Loney, I'm so Loney

I have no choice but to think that Ned Colletti and Grady Little are tied for the "Biggest fans of the blog other than Mom" award. I guess the same could be said for me with the "Biggest fan of James Loney" honor.

Shortly after suggesting here that the Dodgers absolutely had to call up Loney (and Matt Kemp) from triple-A, the team did just that and the two players have proceeded to hit over .400 and energize the offense.

In sports, these things have a way of working themselves out, and no one is happier it happened for the Dodgers than I am. Nomar Garciaparra's lack of production, coupled with similar lack of production from all Dodgers third basemen, forced Little into the inevitable passing of the torch from Nomar to Loney at first, and what is likely a last chance for Nomar to prove his worth at third.

Quite simply, Loney really knows how to hit and field his position, and provides a very necessary spark for a team that was a little too confident in its chances of "getting it going" for my liking.

His production since being called up is staggering, but maybe more important is that Loney has been given a chance to show the organization his worth before they had the chance to ship him off in a deal for a slugger. While nothing is certain, Loney had to be mentioned in most trade conversations, and with the previous thinking that Nomar would be the starting first baseman through next season, it seems likely Loney would have been the man to go.

Thankfully, he has risen to the occasion, a la Russell Martin last season, and appears to have put himself in position to play first for the Dodgers for quite a while. I don't know if I could've taken a trade for Mark Teixeira or Jermaine Dye that would have cost Loney.

Tough Night for Billingsley

In his second start of the season, Chad Billingsley gave up five earned runs on 78 pitches in four innings. It's definitely not good enough, but he deserves a chance to get acclimated to being a starter again before anyone freaks out. No one questions his stuff, but he clearly struggled with his approach as he started Tuesday in Arizona.

Outfield Situation

Don't look now, but Andre Ethier is beginning to hit again. In his last 10 games, Ethier is hitting .409 to go along with his trusty defense and solid plate discipline. Batting eighth Tuesday, Ethier showed he had great patience to take bad pitches with the pitcher batting behind him and took good swings at the good pitches, including a double and a walk.

With Loney earning his spot in the lineup, it's getting perilously close to the point where I call for Matt Kemp to take over center field. Juan Pierre has shown improvement, but I still think Kemp has way more to offer, even right now.

Furcal, Martin, Gonzalez, Kent (who's warning track power is beginning to get to me), Loney, Nomar, Kemp, Ethier looks like a pretty good lineup to me...