TOWER GROVE — As he powered his way through the Pacific Coast League this season, Cardinals outfielder (yes, you can now call him that) Rick Ankiel left disbelief and wonder in his wake. Opposing managers spoke about how they had difficulty computing how the pitcher with the electric curve has become the hitter with the fearsome power.

Uncanny in his feats, he’s even inspired a comic book.

Not that he’s going to be around to see it.

Ankiel was promoted to the major-league roster and will be uniform for tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres. He miss tomorrow’s planned giveaway at AutoZone Park: A Marvel comic book featuring on its cover  The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man and … Ankiel. It’s been that kind of  turnaround for Ankiel as he’s gone from super-talented pitcher to super unknown to simply a sensation.  

“To go from pitching to an offensive standout takes unbelievable talent,” Portland Beavers batting coach Jose Castro told The Oregonian this week. “To be able to put up those numbers he’s putting up is amazing; it really is.”

Said Memphis Redbirds manager Chris Maloney to The Tacoma News Tribune this week:

 â€œHe’s one of the more gifted guys I’ve ever seen. When he was a pitcher, he was the best I’d ever seen. As a hitter, we made him a DH between starts after he came back to Rookie League ball in 2001. I remember thinking, this guy’s the best hitting prospect in the league.”

Same seems true in 2007.

In 710  minor-league at-bats since  retiring as a pitcher, Ankiel has hit 53 home runs. He is averaging one  every 13.4 at-bats.  His  hitting line this season is .267/.314/.568, and his manager and hitting coach have  both said as he improves his understanding of the strike zone his on-base percentage will climb. He is hitting .263 in the minors as an outfielder with 187 hits against 156 strikeouts.

I asked Tony La Russa on Wednesday if there was a comparison to be had between what Ankiel is doing and Chris Duncan did in Triple-A the year before he emerged as the Cardinals’ 20-homer left fielder. La Russa pointed to experience —  Duncan had  thousands of at-bats in the minors before hitting 21 home runs in  2005, tying Ankiel for the organization’s lead for  home runs in the minors. Power appears to be the connection.

Cardinals minor-league coordinator Jim Riggleman said a few springs ago that if he were to pick the best power prospect in the minors he would have a difficult time choosing between Duncan and Ankiel. A few others weren’t so conflicted.

They said Ankiel.

Compare Ankiel’s 2007 against Duncan’s 2005:

Player — AB … R … H … 2B … 3B … HR … RBI … BB … K

Duncan, 05  – 431 … 57 … 114 … 21 … 2 … 21 … 73 … 64 … 94

Ankiel, 07 — 389 … 62 … 104 … 15 … 3 … 32 … 89 … 25 … 90

Player — BA/OBP/SLG

Duncan, 05 — .265/.358/.469

Ankiel, 07 — .267/.314/.568

The glaring difference is the walks. Ankiel walked for the first time in 10 games on Wednesday. Duncan went from three walks for every five strikeouts at the Triple-A level to one walk for every two strikeouts in his first season in the major leagues. His slugging climbed, as did his batting average, while his on-base percentage remained steady. One theory mentioned is that Duncan sees more pitches around the  plate at the major-league level than he did at the Triple-A level  – a commentary of the quality of control in the majors.  His improved discipline at the plate translated. Ankiel’s  has to develop.

Some other tidbits from Ankiel’s arrival as a hitter:

– He’s been pull-happy in  Triple-A. According to data collected by the wealth of info that is Brew Crew Ball, Ankiel has lashed 133 of the 300 balls he’s put in play to the right side of the field. Ninety-four of his 196 outs  on balls in play have been to the right side, 74 of his 104 groundballs have been to the right side.

– He hits .310 against lefthanded pitchers; .316 against righthanders.

– But he has slugged .596 in 109 at-bats against lefties, while slugging .557 in 280 at-bats against righthanders.

– His deft ability to play to play center field and his maturing at the plate is well-covered in his article by the Memphis Redbirds beat writer, Jim Masilak.

– A one-stop spot for some of his general statistics is available here  and, of course,  here at the official MiLB.com site.

– Ankiel is recovering from a .257 average in July with a .357 in August. In June and July his power spiked — he hit 19 home runs — but so did those strikeouts. In June, he had more Ks (27) than base hits (26).

– Against relievers this season, Ankiel has had difficulty. He’s hit .216 with five of his first 30 home runs coming in 134 at-bats against  late-inning specialists.

– Fourteen of his first 30 home runs this season came with Memphis trailing.

–  A tongue-in-cheek side note:  With this callup — which means he’ll remain here with the  big-league club  for the rest of the season, remember — Ankiel will avoid have more strikeouts as a batter in Triple-A than he had as  a pitcher there. In 1999, he struck out 119 batters in 88 1/3 innings at Memphis.

–  Seventeen of his first 30 home runs  have come with runners on base.

– The majority of his at-bats this season have come as the Redbirds’ No. 3 hitter, where he’s batted .286/.346/.583.

– His next home run will be his third major-league home run. He’s a career .205 hitter in  55 at-bats at the major-league level.

– Check out these numbers for the second time he’s seeing a starting pitcher: From the third through the fourth inning, Ankiel hits .350 with a .797 slugging percentage and 14 home runs. He  has a .925 slugging percentage in the third inning.  

– Ankiel will wear No. 24 tonight. Bench coach Joe Pettini has agreed to shift to No. 49, the number Ankiel was expected  to wear.

– Not really a number, but a confirmation of a story circulating the press boxes of baseball for the last few months: Ankiel has asked for his name to be pronounced ANK-ee-ul, according to a note from the Cardinals’ media relation staff. Earlier this year, his wife told the announcer at Memphis home games that he was pronouncing Ankiel’s name wrong — and that we all have been for years.

The comic book is just a continuation of the rising profile of Ankiel and his reinvention as a hitter. He received the most  All-Star votes of any Triple-A player in either league, though he declined  an invitation to start in the All-Star Game. A cable sports channel in Canada flew down to Omaha to film a story on him. He’s rejected repeated requests from ESPN to appear on any of their programs — as a guest and, more specifically, as a subject. As the Redbirds have toured the PCL, they’ve left a trail of newspaper articles about Ankiel,  many of which compare him to the other famous pitchers turned outfielders. Some guys by the names of Babe Ruth and Stan Musial.

And, of course,  Ankiel has pulled a David Eckstein.

He’s wrestled.

At a  show late last month, Ankiel, Tagg  Bozied and hitting coach  Rick Eckstein joined famous wrestler Jerry Lawler for an event. Ankiel toted, fittingly for his new life,  a bat. Eckstein flung himself off the ropes.  The two ballplayers delivered what they called “cheap heat” and then Ankiel went out and ripped his  30th home run  in a 3-for-4 night. That night  he told Masilak the whole wrestling experience was  ”awesome”.

“We laid the smack down on them,” he said.

Welcome back, Rick.

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