Tracking Ankiel

One of the stories of 2008 I’m most looking forward to is that of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel. You know the story: Ankiel was a pitching phenom who reached the big leagues at 19 before losing the strike zone and then blowing out his arm.

After a long and improbable journey, he returned to the Cardinals last summer as an outfielder and played himself into a material role with this year’s club. There’s even talk that he might bat cleanup, although manager Tony LaRussa is quick to deflect any such discussion at this point. Still, even LaRussa can’t contain his excitement when talking about Ankiel:

I think he can have good at-bats wherever he goes. He’s such a special guy… You can read between the lines. He’s an impact guy. You can hit him in a lot of key spots.

Ankiel, for his part, is playing it cool. He’s experienced the hype before, and so maybe it’s not surprising to hear him take the proverbial low road:

Let’s keep it: “See ball, hit ball.” Whatever lineup is picked, that’s what happens.

Seems like a sensible approach to me. We’ll see what kind of fruit it bears…