Rick Ankiel

From BR Bullpen

Richard Alexander Ankiel

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 1", Weight 210 lb.

Debut August 23, 1999
Born July 19, 1979 in Fort Pierce, FL USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Hard-throwing pitcher Rick Ankiel was a top prospect who was plagued by wildness after his rookie year. A good hitter in his amateur days, he was converted to the outfield and made his way back to the major leagues.

In the 1996 World Junior Championship, Ankiel hit .417, second-best on the Bronze Medal-winning Team USA. He also was 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA on the hill despite 5 walks in 7 innings. The next summer, he was a two-way star for Team USA, going 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched and hitting .387 to tie Matt Holliday for 4th on the squad. Ankiel was named the All-Star LHP in the 1997 World Junior Championship; he was the lone USA All-Star on the Bronze Medal co-winners.

He was named Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year in 1999. He followed that honor with a solid rookie season for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000, going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts and finishing second in National League Rookie of the Year voting. However, he imploded in the postseason, allowing seven runs and walking eleven in four innings. His struggles continued into the 2001 season, when he started seven games and had a 7.12 ERA, before being sent back to the minors. He finally returned to the Cardinals in 2004, appearing in five games out of the bullpen.

In early 2005, Ankiel made a surprise announcement that he was ending his pitching career and attempting to make the conversion to outfielder. He had always been a good hitter in the minor leagues, and in 2001 had been sent to the Johnson City Cardinals of the Rookie-level Appalachian League after his well-publicized struggles; he hit .286 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI in 118 at-bats that season, in addition to his record of 5-3 with a league-leading 1.53 ERA in 14 games as a starting pitcher. He was named to the league All-Star team both as designated hitter and left-handed pitcher. In 2005, as a full-time outfielder splitting the season between A and AA, he hit .258 with 21 homers and 75 RBI in just 85 games.

In 2007, Ankiel was one of the top sluggers in the minor leagues. He batted .267/.314/.568 through August 8 with 32 home runs and 89 RBI in 102 games. He was leading the Pacific Coast League in homers and trailing Craig Brazell by one for the lead in the affiliated minors. He was tied with Scott Seabol for second in the PCL in RBI, one behind Joe Koshansky, and ranked 8th in slugging, right behind Val Pascucci. He made the PCL All-Star team in the outfield with Adam Jones and Delwyn Young.

On August 9, 2007, Ankiel made his return to the Big Leagues. He belted a 3-run home run in the 7th inning of the Cardinals 5-0 win over the San Diego Padres and followed that up 2 days later by hitting 2 home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In September, the Daily News reported that Ankiel had received eight shipments of Human Growth Hormone during 2004.