Archive for Rick Ankiel

A couple of years ago, Sky Andrecheck used the power of hindsight to see if an MLB team could have built a 2009 playoff contender using only players who were available on the free-agent market that previous off-season. The only caveat was that this team had to have a league-average budget. Using actual WAR and salaries, Andrecheck pieced together the perfect 25-man roster — actually 18, since he left his bullpen to fend for itself with replacement-level players — and on Aug. 24, his hypothetical team was on pace to win 96 games. And it all happened for the bargain price of $78.6 million.

While this is an interesting exercise, and one I replicated for the 2008 season, I don’t need to tell you that a pretty strong team could have been built on the backs of 2011 free-agent steals such as Bartolo Colon, Brandon McCarthy, Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Vogelsong. Instead, Mr. Dave Cameron, in his infinite generosity, has given me a budget of $80 million FanGraphs Pesos to piece together a free-agent team for next season, without the benefit of hindsight. In case you’re wondering, the ratio of FanGraphs Pesos to Schrute Bucks is 3:1.

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The story on the news feed is that Rick Ankiel has signed with the Nationals on a one-year $1.5M contract, but the story of Rick Ankiel cannot be told without the letter K. Though moving from the rotation to the lineup is an amazing feat, it’s worth wondering where Ankiel would have been without that special K.

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Back in 1999 I can recall watching a cheesy infomercial with my brother during a rain delay in which the onscreen personality pitched what he had deemed collectors baseball cards. What piqued our interest was not the actual set, or even the Keanu Reeves-esque acting, but rather that amidst showing off cards of Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones and Pedro Martinez, the guy enthusiastically promoted a Rick Ankiel card. Not really knowing anything about prospects at the time, my brother and I turned to each other, completely confused, wondering who this supposed superstar was that we had never heard of before.

Ankiel burst onto the scene in 1999 as a power lefty with the Cardinals. In nine games he posted a 10.6 K/9, fanning 39 hitters in 33 innings of work with a 3.27 ERA. Ankiel continued to show why his baseball card might be worth major money one day by producing a 3.50 ERA in 175 innings of work the very next season. He fanned 10 hitters per nine innings but lost a bit of control, with a BB/9 of 4.6.

And then the playoffs happened… in one of the most disturbing series of events I can recall watching on a baseball field, Ankiel imploded in the third inning of NLDS Game 1 against the Braves, not for mechanical reasons but rather due to a form of the ipps. He walked four hitters and threw five wild pitches before being removed. Though he laughed the situation off, more of the same occurred in the NLCS against the Mets as Ankiel continued to walk hitters and throw wild pitches.

In 2001 he made just six starts, walking 25 hitters in 24 innings before being demoted to AAA. Things only worsened in the minors and Ankiel soon found himself in the rookie league, quite the unlikely playground for the Rookie of the Year runner up just the season before. He thrived there both pitching and hitting, a bit of foreshadowing.

Elbow injuries and Tommy John surgery kept the former stud prospect out of action for the 2002 and 2003 seasons but he did manage to return to the big league club in 2004. Though he logged just 10 innings in a small sample of five appearances, his issuing of a lone free pass definitely induced sighs of relief from the Cardinals faithful. The success would be shortlived, however, as Ankiel’s wildness resurfaced before the 2005 season began. It was at that point when Ankiel decided to try his luck as an outfielder.

A knee injury kept him out of action for the 2006 season but Ankiel made the major league squad in 2007, playing 47 in games primarily in center- and rightfield. A +3.1 UZR rating coupled with a .364 wOBA helped Ankiel put together +1.4 wins in very limited time, a very impressive number. Last season he played 120 games, the bulk of which were spent in centerfield. Despite a UZR bordering on 10 runs below average, a .360 wOBA helped prove Ankiel definitely could hit at the major league level.

All told, Ankiel produced a league average, +2 win season in 120 games of action last season, incredibly remarkable given his past and virtually seamless transition into everyday outfielder.

Cliff Lee’s tremendous and out of nowhere season garnered much of the spotlight last season as did Josh Hamilton’s comeback from a drug addiction. In fact, Ankiel’s teammate Ryan Ludwick even earned more air time from most of the media. Very rarely have we seen a pitcher convert into an everyday position player and then it gets largely ignored upon actually coming to fruition? Ankiel might not be an all star or future hall of famer but his career has certainly been remarkable and deserves to be chronicled just as much as any other great story in baseball.

Rick Ankiel is without a doubt the best modern story in terms of a pitcher converting to a hitter – and actually making an impact at the Major League level. Star college player Brooks Kieschnick was a recent example of a player who made the switch in the other director – from hitter to pitcher – but he actually had a solid two seasons in the Majors as both a pinch hitter and mop-up reliever.

There are currently two other interesting conversion stories in the minor leagues, involving former college two-way star Brian Bogusevic of Houston and former top prospect Adam Loewen of Baltimore.

Bogusevic was originally drafted 24th overall by Houston in the 2005 draft out of Tulane University where he spent time on both the mound and in the field. After showing intriguing power in his first two college seasons, Bogusevic went on to hit just .328/.428/.397 in his final college season, which lead more teams to consider him as a pitcher. That same year, the left-hander posted a 13-3 college record with a 3.25 ERA and rates of 8.98 H/9, 2.90 BB/9, and 8.91 K/9.

Bogusevic ended the pitching experiment about mid-way through the 2008 season after posting a 5.50 ERA with 94 hits allowed in 88.1 Double-A innings. Over his career, the southpaw posted a 5.06 ERA and allowed rates of 10.17 H/9, 3.36 BB/9 and 6.15 K/9.

Bogusevic, 24, has yet to accumulate many at-bats this season. He hit .217/.357/.435 in 23 High-A ball at-bats and is currently at .176/.175/.353 in 17 Double-A at-bats. The left-handed batter has a lot of raw power that he is learning to tap into so he will be an interesting player to watch in the final third of the Minor League season.

Loewen was also a first round selection and he was drafted fourth overall in the 2002 draft out of a Canadian high school. Unlike Bogusevic, Loewen actually made it to the Major Leagues as a pitcher but it was injuries – not ineffectiveness – that caused him to make the ultimate decision to switch from pitching to hitting. At the time he was drafted, Loewen was considered to be a third-to-fifth-round talent as a hitter, but his powerful, left-handed arm was coveted by the Orioles.

It took the British Columbia native just three-and-a-half seasons (he was delayed by injuries) to make it to The Show. His final big league pitching line shows an 8-8 record with a 5.38 ERA, with 8.95 H/9, 5.82 BB/9, and 7.35 K/9 in 35 games (and he is 0-for-2 as a big league hitter). Loewen has yet to officially take an at-bat since his conversion but he is also someone to keep an eye on, especially since he is 6-6, 220 lbs, a left-handed hitter and still only 24 years old.

It would be a stretch to expect either player to have a significant Major League career as a hitter – or to even succeed to the level that Ankiel has so far… But it will certainly be entertaining to following along as Bogusevic and Loewen strive to beat the odds.