James Loney, forever a spark plug for debate among executives, scouts, and fans alike.
Prior to the 2002 draft, there was debate as to whether he was better as a pitcher or a hitter. During his time in the minors, there was debate as to whether he would ever use his size to develop a power stroke. In the majors, he has sparked many different debates between fans, most of them revolving around his RBI totals.
Now though, there’s a different debate going on, one that revolves around his sudden improvement late in 2011 season. His monthly OPS splits tell the story, reading .489, .763, .786, .455, 1.066, and 1.091. More importantly though, why has he improved and could it mark a turning point in his career?
ESPN’s Tony Jackson seem to think so and believes the catalyst was the change in hitting coach from Jeff Pentland to Dave Hansen that occurred on July 20th.
So what changed July 20?
Well, for one thing, the Dodgers changed hitting coaches that day, firi...
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