Mets Season in Review: James Loney

How he fared in 2016
On May 28, the Mets acquired James Loney. He would play in exactly 100 games for the Mets during the regular season. He hit for a clip of .265/.307/.397 during his time in Queens. He hit nine home runs and drove in 34 runners in 366 plate appearances.
Loney’s 2016 season with the Mets actually got off to a really hot start. In the first month with the club, Loney was one of the best Mets hitters. He posted an OPS of .814 while slugging .471 in the month of June. After that though, it was pretty much all downhill.
The second half of the year Loney came back down to Earth. His .257/.287/.369 slash was more consistent to what most expected. Unfortunately his playing time would not diminish because of it, as the Mets kept him around for the entirety of the season.
It wasn’t so much that Loney was awful, but there were better options available for the Mets down the stretch at first base. Wilmer Flores, for example, demolished the ball late in the season when he made some starts at first against lefties.
In 77 plate appearances as a first baseman, Flores posted a .945 OPS with 6 home runs. Of course, that’s a small sample size, but the fact that there were better options out there over Loney still stands.