When does Ankiel get considered?

Posted Wednesday, May 2, 2007, at 8:23 AM

Update 5/29: Big day for Ankiel on Monday - two home runs, five RBI.

How's this stat grab you?

The Cardinals have been outscored, 123-84, on the year. They have the third-worst differential in baseball. Only Washington and Tampa Bay have been outscored by more runs in 2007.

Maybe that's why manager Tony La Russa said this after the game.

"We were not competitive, and that is not what we stand for. That's why we're going to do something about it."

Do something about it. OK. What?

There are three potential course of action here. Tinker with the lineup, which is already being done. David Eckstein batted 8th last night. They could make a trade -- always tough to do but especially challenging with injured players and lackluster performances. Or they could look to the minor leagues for a potential solution.

Down at Memphis, pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel has a slugging percentage of .568 and has hit at a .353 clip his last ten games.

In St. Louis, outfielder Jim Edmonds has a slugging percentage of .289 and his average in his last ten games is .229. That's only slightly better than his season average of .211.

I doubt that's the kind of change La Russa has in mind. He's incredibly loyal to his veteran players and to be fair, coming off shoulder and toe surgery, Edmonds needs time to adjust.

But how much longer will the Cardinals wait? One month from today, on June 2nd, if Edmonds is still struggling and Ankiel is ripping the cover off the ball, don't they have to at least consider a change in center field?

An underperforming Jim Edmonds could make his contract extension the costliest mistake of the year.

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Can we please see what Ludwick and Ankiel can can do?

The Astros called up Pence about a week ago to jumpstart their offense---at least they are TRYING to do something--he hit a grand slam today in the Astros win.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Sat, May 5, 2007, at 6:34 PM

Mike Mitchell's response:

Bernie Miklasz jumps on-board.

Outfielder Ryan Ludwick is batting .340 at Class AAA Memphis, with eight homers and 36 RBIs. Memphis outfielder Rick Ankiel has raised his batting average to .283, and he has nine homers. Middle infielder Edgar V. Gonzalez is batting .304 at Memphis. Ludwick was expected to be called up by the Cardinals on Sunday. All these players can't be worse than much of what we're seeing in St. Louis right now.

There is no good reason to keep running the same stale group of players onto the field every day.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/...

Can we please see what Ludwick and Ankiel can can do?

The Astros called up Pence about a week ago to jumpstart their offense---at least they are TRYING to do something--he hit a grand slam today in the Astros win.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Sat, May 5, 2007, at 6:32 PM

In the last seven games the Cardinals have been outscored 51-10!

I don't care what they do at this point... just do something!

-- Posted by semo99grad on Sat, May 5, 2007, at 4:02 PM

Young Musial had another big night in a 10-8 loss for Memphis. Ankiel is now batting .283 with 8 HR (a 4 way tie for leading the league), and 29 RBI (2nd in the league behind Ludwick) in 28 games.

Ludwick is at .330, 7 HR (5th in the league) and 35 RBI (which leads the league).

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Sat, May 5, 2007, at 10:19 AM

Another big night for Rasmus. Went 4 for 7 in a twinbill against the Wichita Wranglers. His 4 hits included 2 HRs and a double. He also stole a base.

Outfield prospect John Jay, who is also starting to make the adjustment to AA pitching, injured his wrist in the second game. Before leaving for the night, Jay had 3 hits, including 2 triples.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Fri, May 4, 2007, at 9:00 AM

Mike Mitchell's response:

Just saw that as well about Rasmus. Very encouraging - good to see.

http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/641512.h...

Interesting piece in the Post today by Jeff Gordon. I agree, I would hate to see the Cardinals deal young prospects for stop-gap help. I don't want to see a Preston Wilson/Steve Finley type of player brought in here at the expense of a young guy. I really don't even want to see a veteran who is on the downside of his career brought in at all. If a deal is made, make it a worthwhile deal. They have a roster full of players on the decline. I would rather see Ludwick or Ankiel get a shot first. The future of the outfield is still a season and a half away (unless Ankiel becomes an everyday player at the big league level and gets called up).

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 2:42 PM

Again, is there really anything in there that excites you and gives you reason to feel the team will be a winner? Besides getting hot at the right time, and BARELY hanging on at the end, this team is about 20 games under .500 over the last 140 games. THAT IS THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is a little more serious than just getting off to a slow start.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 2:22 PM

If I were trying to identify positives, I'd note that Reyes' velocity has been much better his last few starts.

For the season, he is #2 behind Looper among the 6 pitchers who have started for us this year in the 3 key statistical categories: ERA, WHIP, and opponents' OPS.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 2:03 PM

Lets go through the lineup:

Eckstein - In a slump... one winter does not remove his ability to get on base.

Duncan - the hottest Cardinal of the season so far. Should continue to thrive. I would expect him to have a slump sometime in June and early July.

Pujols - the best in the game. His offense is picking up. I think his average would be normal (.330) around the beginning of June.

Rolen - He will get better when Pujols does. Often time their offenses correllate. I don't think he will be as effective as he was in 2005, but he is not down and out.

Edmonds - I think he will have a downer year. I think he is denying his apparent deterioration of offense. His defense will stay about the same, maybe go down a notch.

Kennedy - Will pick it up. Hopefully he will hit .280.

Encarnicion - He will be consistent but not spectacular...much like he was after the All Star Break last year.

Molina - Hopefully his offense will come along. I doubt it.

Pitching

Carpenter - will be good, but not a Cy Young

Mulder - will be more effective

Wells - hopefully he is next "Weaver" and not Ponson. I don't know.

Reyes - Marquis v.2

Wainwright - will get his stuff together.

Looper - stud.

Bullpen: Izzy will continue to get better. Thompson will continue to be streaky. Flores will stabilize.

I think they will be fine. But TLR does need to mix it up a bit. I am sure that it is hard to do when you have some hard headed vets (Rolen and Edmonds).

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 12:53 PM

Rasmus got off to his typical slow start after a promotion but has been picking it up the last three games, during which he is 6 for 12 with a homer and a double. For the season, he's hitting .247 with a .767 OPS.

Another AA position player they are very high on is 20-year old catcher Bryan Anderson. He's a line drive hitter who is starting to display some pop.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 12:23 PM

Whatever happened to the next centerfield prospect is Rasmus?

-- Posted by ghotop21 on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 11:29 AM

There's not one part of the game that this lineup is getting right, except maybe relief pitching. They are not and elite defensive team any longer. They can't hit in the clutch, they can't hit that well overall. The starting pitching started off well, but hitters are starting to catch up to the pitching now. They have no power off the bench. Your all-star 3rd baseman is getting a bit older (but I would say still might have a couple of all-star runs left), has been beaten up with severe injuries, and is still on the mend...besides Albert being probably one of the top 2 players in baseball right now, and Chris Duncan mashing the ball...WHAT'S THE REASON TO BE OPTIMISTIC??? Kennedy is good, Eckstein is a gamer, but C'mon.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 11:03 AM

matt...take off the rose colored glasses! I'm definetly a glass is half full kinda thinker. I choose to be positive-----AND I'M POSITIVE THIS TEAM SUCKS RIGHT NOW! You've been drinking the Cardinal kool-aid again. I'm not saying they can't turn it around, but sitting back and waiting for everything to fall into place might get you 75 wins.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 10:53 AM

I guess you can either view the glass as half empty or half full. I choose half full.

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 10:35 AM

The season is not over---is the reason they NEED to make a change. This is not a very good team. The starting pitching is starting to pitch more like everyone feared, there is NO bench besides Miles and Spezio, and your staff ace is on the DL. You can't say the bats will come around and everything will be ok. They are in the bottom 3 or 4 teams in all of baseball in runs scored/runs allowed. I'm not being Chicken Little here, this is FACT. With the people we have in out lineup, it is only a matter or time before it IMPLODES. Albert has raised his average to around .280 so that means he has been hitting at about a .340 clip the last week to 10 days---and they still can't score. You have to try and get more production. Rolen can still improve some, but I'm not sure if Jimmy Hollywood is going to bat much more than .250 with 12 HR, and 50 RBI. Juan (should be) Gone, can't get a hit at Springfield, I doubt he is going to come up and do much more than Preston (swing and miss) Wilson.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 9:49 AM

I think it is too early to call anyway up. The season is not over. Once the Cards get over their injuries and find their desire again, they will be fine.

With the people we have in our lineup, it is only a matter of time before it explodes.

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Thu, May 3, 2007, at 9:06 AM

Am I missing something here? I heard Tony say he was shaking things up. HE'S WON OVER 2000 GAMES AND BATTING TAGUCHI LEADOFF IS THE BEST HE CAN COME UP WITH? GOOD LORD! So has been a good role player, but I've seen enough already!

I think the question is what does Ryan Ludwick have to do to get a call up?!! The guy is flat-out mashing the ball! His average has dropped some in the past week, but he's still hitting .323 and is among the leaders in HR and RBI if not the actual leader.

I've listened to a few Memphis games, and Ankiel is the center fielder. After a 1 for 3 night tonight, he's batting .264I don't think the knee injury has slowed him down any, but saying he is probably the third fastest of anyone on the 25 man roster is not saying alot. From most interviews I've heard, Kennedy and a couple others have said Chris Duncan and Kip Wells are about as fast as anyone! THERE IS NO WAY ANKIEL WILL GET CALLED BEFORE SEPTEMBER UNLESS HE IS TEARING THE COVER OFF THE BALL. He needs too many at-bats. Switching positions, injuries, and his age have made it crucial to see as much playing time as possible. He's among the league leaders in HR's and RBI, so there is no way he would clear waivers if he had to. He got off to a tough start, so he's pulling the average up. The Cardinals have had plenty of chances to give up on the guy, I find it hard to believe they would allow him to get THIS CLOSE to becoming a major league hitter just to lose him to waivers.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 9:43 PM

The waiver situation complicates things. My understanding is that Ankiel is still out of options. When he was signed by the Cardinals as a minor league free agent this winter, his options did not re-set; he was out of them dating from his original contract with the Cardinals, and the fact that he was released and then re-signed doesn't give him any more.

In other words, if the Cardinals bring him up, he has to stay on the 25-man roster or clear waivers when he is sent down. Although he cleared in 2005, it is not likely he would this season since he has shown he can hit for power against Triple A pitching. So if the Cardinals call him up and he really struggles, they're stuck. He probably ends up spending most of his time on the bench, which doesn't help him or the Cardinals.

I imagine we will see him in September when the active roster is expanded beyond 25 players but not before.

Ankiel probably needs more time in AAA anyway. He definitely needs to be playing everyday. Now if he is hitting .350 in July with 30 home runs, it's a different story.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 2:15 PM

I just hope Ankiel doesn't get injured from hitting his head on the ceiling when he finds out that the Cardinals are promoting back to the Majors!

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 11:54 AM

Slu-Fan: I haven't seen a Memphis game yet this year, so I have not seen whether Ankiels speed & defense have improved. He wasn't all that fast when I saw him back in 2005 and I assumed that his knee injury & surgery last season wouldn't have helped matters. His statistics don't show much speed either with 0 steals & 1 triple. Have you watched him play recently? And has he ever played CF before in a game?

-- Posted by Nil on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 11:32 AM

Hey Nil:

Actually on this current big league roster, Ankeil would likely be in the top 3 as far as speed goes. I haven't noticed very many errors from Ankiel, so he must be holding his own. Ankiel will not be brought up here to be a bat off the bench I GUARANTEE THAT---the guy needs as many at-bats as he can get...at whatever level he is playing. Ludwick will not get a call-up until someone is dropped from the 40 man roster to make room for him on there.

-- Posted by Slu-Fan on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 10:37 AM

Could Ankiel even play centerfield? He doesn't have much speed at all, and last I knew he wasn't that great of a RFer which would make him a pretty lousy CFer. Ankiel would be useful as a power lefty to bring off the bench, but thats about it.

Ludwick can at least play a medicore CF so he would be the AAA callup if their is one. He's also has some solid numbers at AAA, but still can't draw a walk. Ludwick, Edmonds, Taguchi & Colby Ramus (though he is at least a year or two away) are the only guys that could play CF in the majors without looking like a total embarrassment.

-- Posted by Nil on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 10:31 AM

Another thought...for the last couple of years, the Stros have started pathetic and played mediocre for the entire season. They always seemed to get hot around the beginning of August. They always seem to be right one our trail.

Maybe the Cards are the Stros for 2007.

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 10:29 AM

I would rather have them get a proven MLB outfielder and not someone who has been hitting .340 the first month of the season.

Ankiel would make excellent trade bait. But they haven't parted with him after his many injuries, I doubt that they will now.

I think it is unlikely that they could get a significant trade at this point in the season. Maybe at the beginning of June.

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Wed, May 2, 2007, at 10:28 AM