Rick Ankiel
 

I just read over on ESPN that he's back in the majors, as an outfielder this time, and homered in his first game after being called up.

good for him.

with the cards?

Yeah. He is the next centerfielder. He was tearing up AAA. Glad to see the Cardinals shaking it up a alittle.

great story - guy must be a good athlete

I can't believe he's only 28

Yup great athlete. Great power will struggle to make contact, I wish the best for him but I cant see him adjusting to major league pitching as fast as he has.

Wow, that's incredible!

I wish him all the best. He seemed like a nice guy back when he was a pitcher.

How many HR's is he in back of the Hulk?

He always had very cool socks.

Nicely done. It still saddens me to see him not make it as a pitcher - what he was doing in the big leagues at 21 is unreal. I hope someday he considers giving pitching another shot.

This is a bit over optimistic. He isn't the next CF. Colby Rasmus is who the Cardinals have in mind as the CF of the future.

It's also a very big stretch to say Ankiel was tearing up AAA. He hit a lot of home runs in AAA (31 in only 381 at bats), but he has some issues. He was only htting .270, strikes out way too much and does not walk anywhere near enough. The reports are also that he feasts on the poor pitchers in AAA and greatly struggles against any legitimate prospects at that level.

I had softball games tonight so I only got to see the highlights of his at bats, but he looked over matched in his first 3 at bats. I am happy he hit a home run and I hope he continues to do well, but he has a very long way to go still to prove he is going to be able to help this team.

yup, 3 run HR, I'm rooting for him big time.

Jose Canseco does not recommend moving from the outfield to the mound.

The timing for bringing him up is odd too. I know the Cardinals have struggled, but they are only 5.5 games out of first place right now. Ankiel doesn't have any more options left so they can't send him back down without clearing waivers. There is no way he will clear waivers.

Now if they think they are still in the race then I think you pretty obviously have to play Juan E. I am certainly not a huge Encarnacion fan, but he is solid and he is doing what he does. I can't see how it helps Ankiel to be sitting on the bench, when he could be getting 4 at bats a night in AAA. Why not wait 3 weeks and call him up in September?

At this point they are either going to be wasting development time for him or they are going to be playing a potentially less ideal option in RF as they make their last ditch run at catching Milwaukee and Chicago.Just seems odd. Especially when Skip Schumaker is hitting over .300 at the major league level and has options still if they want to send him back down.

Pretty cool story...definitely pulling for him.

I like it!!! Jocketty to the Reds in '08!!!

Colby Rasmus just called. He's laughing at you. ;)

Well, you might as well bring him up and see what you got for now and the future. Maybe I'm crazy here but, best case, he comes up and hits good and sparks the entire team which is something that I don't think Schumaker or Encarnacion could do.

Could it happen? Doubtful but, would sure make one hell of a story IMO.

Great story indeed. The crowd gave him a standing "O" and it was great to see LaRussa's reaction to the HR which put the game out of reach for the Pads.

I like the Duncan/Edmonds/Ankiel lefty outfield lineup.

I'll echo primelord's position...this isn't exactly the time to bring up the prospects and see what you have...especially one that can't be sent down again.

If they were 10 games out or it was the end of August, I'd be fine with it.

Sweet, very good to hear he's back in the bigs. So is he still wearing the socks?

Sure it is. Ankiel is not REALLY a prospect and we need hitting something fierce. It's time to see what we have before next season.

Gorram Ankiel!

Peter Gammons would disagree.

That's what September call ups (when you are ceratin you are out of it) and spring training are for.

If you saw LaRussa's face, the Cardinals had been chomping at the bit to bring this guy back up. I think that if he's not going to make it with the ballclub, it's better for his future to know now rather than later. And they needed a sparkplug that a rookie wouldn't give them.

I like the move.

I'd like it if he were, I don't know, an infielder.

I hear Taguchi's a great infielder. Heh.

Peter Gammons is an MLB shrew, so really his opinion means squat to me.

Are you joking? The guy has more HR's than anyone in AAA and he's 28 freaking years old.. it's time to see if he can cut the majors as a hitter. I mean Edmonds and this revolving door outfield are doing so well.

Yeah, I consider Hall of Fame baseball writers who call the Cardinals "the crown jewel of baseball" worthless.

You're probably right on this one.

I am not joking.

I spent quite a bit of time in St. Louis watching Cardinals games when I stationed near there. Not only was it awesome that the Cards let military members get into the games free (via the press gate) with their active or retired military IDs, but...the fans were pleasant, the stands are packed even during day games in May and they know their baseball.

I'd say the fans in Boston are more 'passionate' about the product on the field and Yankees fans are more voiciferious, but....St. Louis is seriously a place that I really enjoyed watching a MLB game.

There's nothing more serious than a Primelord about to charge your ass...

And Ankiel hits two more today!

Wow!!!

holy crap!

Steroids.

Primelord got him all riled up.

Not sure if you were serious or not, but it's definitely my first thought as well. And MLB is truly screwed if that is the average fans reaction to what should be a feel-good story like Ankiel.

I'm half-serious. :) I don't want to think it, but it crosses my mind. That was a VERY quick transition from pitcher to hitter. And if you look at his minor league stats, all he had really going for him was power. He seems like a guy that would be desperate to keep on playing baseball at a high level. Mix all those together, and it's kind of fishy.

That was my first thought as well, and I agree that MLB is screwed.

They've had minor league testing well before they even had MLB testing and that program has always been pretty tough. HGH, who knows of course since they don't test for it.

Also, while I am definitely against steroids and other performance enhancers, I believe people vastly overate their effectiveness. Of course, we are all guessing, but from everything I've read, their effect on hitting a home run, throwing a fastball and overall baseball play is probably pretty low. The main effectiveness would seem to come from the ability to recover from injury quicker and increased longevity. That said, we really don't have any specific tests to measure what if any effect steroids truly do have on hitting a baseball. Even if Ankiel was/is on steroids, I doubt they have much to do with his ability to transition from pitcher to hitter and get back to the majors.

Wasn't Ankiel a good hitter when he was a pitcher?

If steroids/HGH are easy enough to obtain to where a washed up pitcher can use them without detection, I'm guessing it's fairly prevalent in the minors (esp since most players there are "desperate to keep on playing baseball at a high level"). So, given that backdrop of many minor league players using, doesn't Ankiel still get some credit for essentially slaughtering the HR/AB leaders in AAA?

I find it interesting that most people treat steroids like it's a major problem, yet only Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Rick Ankiel have figured out how to get any major benefit from it (ie, everyone else is using some kind of placebo). Either we are all blowing it out of proportion (at which case I doubt Ankiel would be using it) or it's so prevalent that half Ankiel's teammates are using it (as are his opponents). Either case seems to indicate that what Ankiel is doing is impressive.

He was indeed. During his only full big league season (2000) he hit .250 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI (at age 20).

I'm glad to see him having some success. I hope it continues.

But wouldn't this be true of anyone who had strong arms (I'm assuming he did, right?) but less practical hitting experience than those around him?

I can't help but shake the half-feeling I get when I see or hear about Ankiel. I like that he's trying hard to be a hitter now; I felt so bad for him in the meltdown.

Isn't this a bit like saying that "all a girl has going for her is a great pair of boobs?" What else do you really need?

I mean, his OBP was bad, and his average was below .250. I like more rounded hitters.

I like more rounded boobs.

Yeah, those are nice. I prefer those to saggy.