James Loney hasn’t hit this season, so yesterday the Dodgers figured maybe he could help them as a pitcher.
With the bullpen on fumes thanks to Saturday night’s 13-inning loss to the Rockies at Coors Field, manager Don Mattingly had Loney warm up in the bullpen before yesterday’s game in case he was needed as an emergency pitcher.
Mattingly ended up not needing Loney because he instead let Chad Billingsley throw 118 pitches while giving up three late runs in a loss, but Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times notes that many teams wanted to draft Loney as a pitcher in 2002 and ... well, his .344 slugging percentage would be less out of place among pitchers than it is among first basemen.