A rocky career beginning in professional baseball may turn into a major league outfield position for Rick Ankiel. Amazingly he’s turned into a decent hitter and fielder in the minor leagues. With the age of the St. Louis Cardinals outfield, Ankiel may start next year for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Everyone remembers Ankiel’s meltdown in the playoffs, throwing many wild pitches and being generally ineffective. There was also the big switch when Tony La Russa let the media think Daryl Kile was starting, when in fact, Rick Ankiel was starting.
Rick’s had some ok numbers in the minors:
Average .259, 21 home runs and 75 RBIs.
Assistant general manager John Mozeliak said:
You look at the last month he had, it’s prolific. When you look at our depth in the outfield, it just seemed to make sense.
Does a month make a major league chance?