Sleeper Watch

Guess who’s back? More than two years after appearing in his last big-league game, Rick Ankiel is back in St. Louis, determined to prove he belongs.

Before mysteriously losing control – quite literally – during the 2000 post-season, Ankiel had been one of the game’s hottest pitching prospects. That season, the young lefty earned 11 wins while posting a 3.50 ERA and fanning 194 batters for a stellar 9.98 K/9 mark.

(Side note: why do we record strikeouts per nine, but walks and hits on a per-inning basis? Wouldn’t it make looking at the numbers easier if we either changed WHIP to WH/9, or K/9 to K/IP ? But enough digression…)

The following year, Ankiel couldn’t find the plate with satellite guidance. He gave up more than one walk per inning, and his WHIP and ERA ballooned to 2.08 and 7.13, respectively. It looked like the once-promising southpaw’s career on the mound was finished. At one point, there was even talk of converting him into a position player.

But lo and behold, Rick Ankiel is back. Following encouraging (albeit brief) stints with palm Beach (A), Tennessee (AA) and Memphis (AAA), he tossed a scoreless inning in his return to St. Louis, allowing only a single to San Diego’s Xavier Nady.

Will Ankiel ever be able to reach his enormous potential? It’s far too early to tell, but he certainly makes for an intriguing high-risk/high-reward pickup in a keeper league. Only one thing is certain: a whole lot of people will be rooting for him.