Dodgers Minor League Baseball Blog

Eric Stults improved to 5-4 on the season with a nice start in Vegas’ 5-4 win over Memphis.  He gave up two runs on four hits and one walks with four strikeouts in six innings.

James Loney went four for five with a double and a run.  Sergio Garcia went three for four with a double and two runs.

Las Vegas had plenty of hitting stars but not many pitching stars in their 10-9 loss to Portland.  Vegas jumped out to an 8-6 lead with three runs in the eighth only to see Portland scored four in the ninth to take the lead for good.  James Loney was three for five with three RBIs and two runs.  Mitch Jones went two for four with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.

Eric Hull took the loss.  He gave up three of the four ninth inning runs.

Las Vegas made a run at a comeback in their 9-8 loss but they fell just short.  Joe Mays had a rough start and he gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts in five innings.  B.J. LaMura took the loss when he gave up the deciding run in the eighth inning.

Delwyn Young had a nice game. He was a perfect four for four with three doubles, a run and an RBI.  James Loney went two for four with two doubles, three RBIs and a run.

For the second straight game, the 51s managed just one run and the end result is a 3-1 loss to Tacoma.  James Loney drove home Tony Abreu in the first inning and that was it.

Hong-Chih Kuo lasted only two innings and there’s no indication as to why because he seemed to put up a decent line.  D.J. Houlton then threw five solid innings in which he gave up two runs on five hits and walk with five strikeouts, but it wasn’t enough for the win.

Las Vegas had the misfortune of catching Bartolo Colon in a rehab start as they lost to Salt Lake 8-2.  It didn’t help that Travis Smith was hit hard.  He gave up five runs on ten hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. 

James Loney was the only player to really get much done at the plate.  He went three for four with a run.

Joe Mays got it done for the 51s with a great pitching performance.  He gave up just a single run on four hits and two walks with one strikeouts in seven innings of work.

James Loney had the big hit of the game.  His bases loaded clearing triple accounted for three of the five 51s runs in the 5-1 win.

The 51s kept up their winning streak in a 7-4 win over Colorado Springs.  Tony Abreu and James Loney led the way with the bats.  Abreu went three for fou with two doubles and three runs while Loney drove in three.

D.J. Houlton picked up the win with 5 decent innings.  He gave up three runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

James Loney picked up right where he left off this spring with a solo homerun in his first at bat of the minor league season.  Mitch Jones also had a nice game.  He went three for three with a run scored.

Eric Stults had a rough start and he gave up three runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts in just 3 2/3 innings.  Chin-hui Tsao then gave up the big run in the ninth and he took the loss.

Baseball America took one last look at the Dodgers spring camp with a “who’s hot” and “who’s not” format.  James Loney had a prominent place with his great spring and Tony Abreu gets some time.  Andy LaRoche and Scott Elbert showed up in the “who’s not” category.

Coming in at number four is first baseman James Loney.  The prospects was the Dodgers first round draft pick out of high school way back in 2002 and that year, he made his debut at Great Falls (Low A) where he was extremely impressive and where he put himself on the map.  He hit .371/.457/.624 in 170 at bats and while the power wasn’t from a large amount of homeruns, he did belt 22 doubles in the limited amount of at bats.  He made a brief jump to Vero Beach where he continued to hit, but not with much power.

In 2003, he started at Vero Beach where he put together a good but great season.  He hit .276/.337/.400 in 468 at bats.  Then in 2004, he had a set back when he was promoted to Double A.  There, he hit just .238/.314/.327 where he was outmatched.  He repeated Double A in 2005 and finally got back on track before 2006, when he started at Las Vegas and hit the snot out of the ball before getting promoted to the big league club where he racked up 102 at bats.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t room for Loney so he’ll start the season once again in Triple A.  He’s still only 22 though so this isn’t a huge deal (except probably for him) and expect him to be up the first time the Dodgers have some troubles out in the outfield.