Can James Loney Hit for Power?
James Loney has been one of the most consistent Dodger hitters over the years, so consistent he even matched his RBI total in 2008 and 2009, but he fell off last year and that garnered a lot of criticism and questions over whether he’ll ever hit for power. Well James Loney thinks so and I believe he can.
He has a bit of a natural life already since he’s a left handed hitter; most left handed hitters have a natural lift to their swing, more so than right handed hitters. He also has the size, 6’3″ 220 lbs and you don’t see much fat, nor is he really muscular, except in his arms which are the most important in producing power. He also has already shown he has a good eye, gets a lot of doubles and in 2007, only his second major league season, he hit 15 HR’s in only 344 at-bats, his career high even though he’s had nearly 600 at bats in each of the last 3 seasons.
I have always felt that his major problem, especially last year is that Don Mattingly was the hitting coach. Don wanted Loney to hit inside-out more, which would make him hit the ball the opposite way but Loney power comes from him pulling the ball. If you look at this chart you will see over his career, the majority of his home-runs at Dodger stadium either went to right field, right center or a few went to center but basically they went into the right field bleachers. So, basically if Loney wants to hit for more power, he needs to learn how to get his hips out in front of the ball a little bit more and hit the ball to right field, as he has 0 home-runs to the opposite field at Dodger Stadium.
I think he can do it, 20 is very well in the possibility and even 30 if he really learns how to pull the ball, he’s got all the tools, he just needs to learn the technique.
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[...] nor has he shown the type of power he said he’d improve on in the off season, I even wrote an article putting my support behind [...]
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