Player Profile: James Loney

James Loney is a Major League first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was born on May 7th, 1984 in Houston Texas. He was drafted in the first round number 19 overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2002 Amateur Draft. He had the option of attending Baylor University to play college baseball, however he decided to head the pros instead.

Loney began his professional career playing for the Great Falls Dodgers, a minor league affiliate of the major league team. He hit .371 in his first year and was named the top prospect in the Pioneer League. In 2003 Loney played for the Single-A Vero Beach team and hit .276 with 7 homers. 2004 is when people really began to take notice of the left hander as he was named the fourth best overall prospect in the Arizona Fall League. He then had an injury plagued season on the Jacksonville Suns team.

2006 is perhaps when Loney's career began to take off as he hit .380 for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51's. He was named the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year. James Loney made his major league debut with the Dodgers on April 4, 2006 against the Atlanta Braves' John Smoltz. He wasted no time as he got a single in his first major league at bat. Later in the season on September 28th, Loney started a game against the Colorado Rockies where he went 4 for 5 hitting 9 RBI's. This tied a 56 year old franchise record held by Gil Hodges.

Loney was ranked the top 44 overall prospect by Baseball America entering the 2007 season. Despite his success in 2006 he began the season at AAA as the Dodgers chose to re-sign Nomar Garciaparra to play first base. On June 10, 2007 Loney was recalled to replace the often injured Garciaparra, and from here James would never look back. He brought a hot bat with him to Los Angeles that eventually forced Garciaparra to play third base and Loney had solidified his role as the Dodgers first baseman of the future. Loney finished his rookie season sixth in the voting of the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

The 2008 season began with James Loney as the starting first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He got off to a quick start to the season with a 15 game hitting streak. He finished the season batting .289 with 13 homeruns and a team leading 90 RBI's. On October 1st, 2008 Loney hit a grand slam of the Chicago Cubs Ryan Dempster in the 2008 NLDS. This helped the Dodgers go on to win the game 7-2.

Loney is often compared to former American League All-Star John Olerud. Both players batted and threw left handed, and neither player has hit for a lot in the home run category. Both are superb fielders with the glove, Loney has yet to earn a Gold Glove award though. Olerud was a three time Gold Glove winner. Their look and approach to the plate is virtually identical, as well as their ability to hit doubles and drive in runs. Loney is still very young in his baseball career as he begins his second full season in the majors. Loney has plenty of time to develop and create consistency in his game. There is no doubt the potential Loney has, with an almost infinite ceiling. This guy should definitely be on your watch list for years to come.