Atlanta Braves Sign James Loney, Hopeful for Rebound Year

Braves call on Loney to fill some very large shoes in the infield.  He will have a chance to get back up to speed before doing so.

Once upon a time, James Loney was a consistently good baseball player. Many would argue that, after a down 2016 in his first and only season with the Mets (coincidence?), Loney is ready to bounce back to his normal self. The Atlanta Braves are banking on him to do just that, as they’ve reached an agreement with Loney, and he has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.

So, what exactly does this mean for Braves fans? Loney, having just turned 33, is certainly not too old to see success in the MLB. Loney’s a .284 career hitter, and hasn’t been far off of that lately.

He’s batted .280 or better in 3 of the last 4 seasons, and the Braves weren’t going to let an off year in New York skew their perception of him and his contributions with the Dodgers, and more recently, the Rays.

He drove in 69 runs in 2014, his last full big-league season, and I’d say that’s pretty nice.

One thing to absolutely love about Loney is his discipline at the plate. In 11 Major League seasons, he has never struck out more than 95 times, and that was in 2010.

Since 2010, his highest strikeout total is just 80 in 155 games with the Rays in 2014. This makes him somewhat of a better fit with Atlanta, seeing as the Braves have the fewest strikeouts in the National League.

His maintained low strikeout total throughout his career, even past age 30, is a great sign that his low average in 2016 may have easily been a fluke. His 13-point drop in BABIP aligned with his 15-point drop in batting average further supports this.

Not Quite Ideal Though

There are, however, a couple of questions that come with his signing. First off, I want to start by saying that 16 games is by no means enough to make a clear judgement on how 2017 could go for Loney, and those 16 games being in the minor leagues certainly doesn’t help.

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Loney batted just .229, but drew 13 walks in 16 games with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate Toledo Mud Hens. Again, the Braves didn’t let that scare them. Players slump, and his slump came at a very unfortunate time.

Another question some have had about Loney is his defense. Over his past three seasons, Loney saw a significant drop in his Range Factor/Game (RF/G).

For those who don’t know, RF/G is a sabermetric stat used to determine a player’s defensive ability (putouts + assists / games played).

In my eyes, this is one of the more trivial stats, and measures defensive excellence, as opposed to defensive ability. Loney’s fielding percentage was nothing terrible last season, at .989, (.992 in 2014 and 2015) so I don’t see reason for too much concern there.

Next: The Other Change Made Today

James Loney could see himself in Atlanta very soon. Don’t expect him to come in and hit a ton of homers or flash the leather on balls out of his way. But if and when he’s called up, he’ll do his job, and he’ll do it fairly well.