James Loney

James Loney is not in Wednesday’s lineup against the Padres.

He’ll take a seat against the left-hander Clayton Richard. The newly-recalled Jerry Sands will start in his place at first base and bat fifth.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly indicated that James Loney will be sitting more often against left-handed pitching, but he won’t be in a strict platoon.

“I think James can hit lefties,” Mattingly said. “But again, like I said before, me thinking he could do it and then doing it are two different things. At this point, James is not really doing it.” Loney, who is batting just .212 on the year (.136 against left-handers), figures to yield to Juan Rivera some against southpaws, with new acquisition Bobby Abreu taking Rivera’s spot in left field.

James Loney plated both runs in Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Nationals.

Loney tagged Gio Gonzalez for a sixth-inning single. It was his only hit of the afternoon, while the RBI were his first in seven games. Hitting just .227/.311/.348 to go along with his typical lack of power, Loney could start drawing more frequent benchings if his bat doesn’t heat up and stay hot.

James Loney has hit safely in each of his last five games.

Loney started the season with just one hit in 20 at-bats, but he’s hitting .379 (11-for-29) over his last nine games. The 27-year-old hasn’t managed more than 13 homers in a season since 2007, so there’s just not a lot of upside here, but he should do enough to contribute in deeper mixed formats.

James Loney is not in the starting lineup Friday night against the Padres.

Juan Rivera will start at first base against the southpaw Cory Luebke while Jerry Hairston, Jr. plays left field. Loney owns a .677 career OPS against left-handed pitching, so this is an arrangement we should probably get used to.

James Loney went 2-for-3 with a home run, run scored and three RBI in Friday’s win over the Rangers.

He took Greg Reynolds deep for a three-run blast. True to form, Loney hasn’t been putting much of a charge into the ball this spring, lacing just two extra-base hits. He’s batting .357, though, and won’t be in danger of losing at-bats to Juan Rivera early in the season. That could change if he gets off to the kind of start he did in 2011, however.

James Loney is not in the Dodgers’ Cactus League lineup Tuesday because of calf tightness.

“Hold him out today and see what it looks like tomorrow,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told reporters. “He’s not going to play today.” Loney should be fine by the end of this week. He’s 3-for-11 so far this spring.

James Loney said he acted strange following his November car accident because he suffered a blow to the head.

Loney sideswiped two cars and passed out with his car parked in the fast lane, and when he came to, he tried to the flee the scene by cutting across four lanes and wound up hitting another car. Police officers said the first baseman was acting oddly after being pulled over, even spitting the mouthpiece of the breathalyzer back at them. But, a blood test came back negative for drugs and alcohol and he was never charged with a crime. Loney says he couldn’t remember anything immediately after he hit his head, but he did remember when the cops came. He’s presumably fine now and will look to carry over his late-season hitting from last year, when he batted .388 with seven homers over the final 35 games.

TMZ reports that the L.A. City Attorney’s Office is not pursuing a DUI case against James Loney “due to insufficient evidence.”

Loney was arrested in November after crashing his Maserati into three cars and exhibiting strange behavior at the scene. While he allegedly refused to take a breathalyzer, even spitting the mouthpiece back at the cops, a blood test came back negative for drugs and alcohol and he was never charged with a crime. The 27-year-old first baseman avoided arbitration with the Dodgers last month by agreeing to a one-year, $6.375 million contract.