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Throughout his career, Rick Ankiel has been described in many different ways. Since his first days in the minors, he had been hailed by scouts and analysts alike as a top prospect, future Cy Young award winner, strikeout king…you name it. Ten years later, Ankiel is still garnering up many descriptions, and I too would like to join in naming him: the luckiest man in baseball.
Ankiel was once a man who had everything going for him. In 1999, he was just reaching the Major Leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. Things were looking up, and with good reason; he was St Louis’ top prospect, and one of the game’s highest raved about young pitchers. His statistics had been immaculate, and he sported a fastball that was reaching close to 100 miles per hour.
In 2000, Ankiel was on his way to true greatness. He posted an 11-7 record for the year to go along with an E.R.A. of 3.50 (ninth in the league).
His rookie season also saw him begin to rub elbows with some of baseball’s best, as his 194 strikeouts were good for seventh in the league, and he was only second in the league in strikeouts per nine innings with 9.98, trailing only Randy Johnson. He led the Cardinals into the playoffs as one of the staring attractions.
That fame, however, did not last long for Ankiel as he quickly went from among baseball’s best to its worst. His playoff totals were among the worst baseball has ever seen, giving up seven runs, 11 walks, and throwing nine official pitches (three additional pitches went past his catcher) through four innings in three games.
Ankiel lost complete control and was no longer able to throw strikes. His struggles continued the following season in both limited time with the Cardinals and its triple A affiliate. Still unable to throw strikes, Ankiel was demoted to the Cardinals’ rookie league team. His once promising career had suddenly become a bottomless pit.
Fast forward to 2009 and Ankiel, still just 29, after numerous struggles and injuries, is back on major league turf…as an outfielder. After doing a complete 180, Ankiel is extremely fortunate the Cardinals have kept the faith.
He has, however, given his best efforts to reward them. In limited time the past two seasons, Ankiel has shown promising power, hitting 11 home runs in 2007 (47 games) and 25 home runs last season (120 games).
Much to everyone’s surprise, Ankiel is yet again harvesting unique praise, being baseball’s only active player to switch from being an everyday pitcher to outfielder, and one of the very few in history.
2009 has already seen its ups and downs for Ankiel, something he is certainly already used to. He has until this week struggled to keep his batting average above .200. Ankiel led the Cardinals’ charge against the Mets earlier this week, batting .462 and contributing two three-hit games during the sweep.
He raised his batting average from .177 to .250, but with an 0-for-4 performance the following day, it dropped down to .232.
Ankiel has certainly made a remarkable recovery. The amount of power he shows for a former pitcher is quite impressive. We all know he can hit, but if his career has shown us anything he lacks, it is consistency.
If he is going to be more than just the ultimate platoon player, he needs to prove there is an end to repeated 0-for-4 performances. Although he was finally able to cash in with the Cardinals on a more lucrative contract this past February, it is through this season only.
The fact of the matter is Ankiel needs to provide the Cardinals with some better hitting. Lucky for him, he has been given so many chances thus far. The Cardinals have so much invested in him already; they cannot help but hang on to the hope that the deep investment will eventually pay off.
That leads me to believe that the reality is Ankiel wouldn’t get so much as a second look with most other teams. St. Louis’ outfield is extremely weak, for the exception of budding star Ryan Ludwick. While he is a regular starter now, Ankiel constantly has to look behind his shoulder with the resurgence of Chris Duncan, who had a very positive spring training and is doing well in limited time this season.
However, the Cardinals again seem to stack the deck for Ankiel, often batting him in front of superstar Albert Pujols, leading to Ankiel seeing better pitches to hit.
Despite his inconsistency on the field, Ankiel’s resiliency has been nothing but consistent. He keeps coming back, finding ways, and crossing uncharted waters to do so.
The jury is still out on whether or not he is the real deal. Ankiel has thus far been baseball’s luckiest man, but as time runs out for the Cardinals, it appears as though Ankiel’s luck may also be running out.
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