JUPITER, Fla. – It looks like Rick Ankiel will be part of
the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation when the regular season
begins.
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"He's still got a tough road ahead, but we've seen some
encouraging signs," general manager Walt Jocketty said.
The 21-year-old left-hander has struggled on and off this spring
as he tries to regain his control after a record wild streak last
postseason. Still, manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave
Duncan have seen enough to include him in the first-week rotation.
Ankiel is scheduled to pitch the fifth game of the season, April
7 in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"That's exactly right," La Russa said.
Duncan said: "You ask yourself how many pitches could he throw
and be effective? I don't think he'd have any problem throwing 75
pitches.
"Is that where we'd want him to be? Probably not. You'd like to
get out of spring training feeling comfortable that a guy would
throw 100 pitches, but I would take (75) right now."
Ankiel pitched Monday against minor-leaguers with the Montreal
organization and threw 41 pitches, 31 for strikes. He allowed no
hits or walks.
"It was vintage Ankiel," La Russa said. "Difficult
circumstances, pitching a morning game like that. It's tough to get
yourself ready to go."
The minor-league hitters struggled against Ankiel's biting
fastball, but catcher Mike Matheny said major-leaguers wouldn't
have hit him, either.
"His stuff was phenomenal," Matheny said.
"I feel pretty good," Ankiel said. "I feel like I was seeing
the target well. As a result, I was throwing strikes."
Ankiel's next starts, for the most part, will take place in
front of about 40,000 more people than the two dozen who watched
the game Monday. "I think he's going to be up to the fight,"
Matheny said.
Ankiel is awaiting word on a possible outing during the team's
end-of-spring West Coast trip to face the Oakland Athletics and
Seattle Mariners, although he might pitch Thursday in the final
spring game in Florida.
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