I know it’s an old story from last year and everything, but I still can’t get over it, and I think it’s fantastic that this guy has resurrected his career like this.  Shifting from a pitcher to an outfielder, and not just an outfielder, but an extremely productive one.  It’s really unheard of.  He may strike out a tad too much, but he still does most everything else other than steal bases.  Hits for decent average, great power, and is a tremendously good outfielder.  The guy has great range and has an absolute CANNON of an arm, which is expected.  The throw he made from the warning track in Colorado to tag out the guy going to 3rd base was insane…not only a long ass throw, but a perfect strike.  It’s not like he’s old either, still under 30, 28 I believe.  So, not only is he a great player now, but he can possibly get even better as the years go by, and even if he stays at his same level, he should be able to keep it up for 4-5 more years.  It’s going to be interesting to see what they do with uber-prospect Colby Rasmus, a fellow center fielder.  Ankiel’s blocking him at the current time, but I’m sure they’ll arrange something, they can’t leave someone like Rasmus laying around in the minors.

I wasn’t a baseball fan when Ankiel had his success and meltdown as a pitcher in 2000 and 2001, but it’s amazing to me that someone can rebound from that and still have a very productive career.  That must have been a huge mental obstacle to clear, and I commend him for that.  The whole HGH mini-controversy with him last year didn’t seem to affect him at all, which shows that he’s taken huge strides and has matured as a person since he was a young pitching phenom.  I wish him the best for the rest of his career.

Now Micah Owings can see that it wouldn’t be that bad of a thing if his pitching career went south.

Leave a Reply