The Washington Nationals filled a new position with an old face Wednesday, as the club added former outfielder Rick Ankiel to their minor-league coaching staff as a life skills coordinator.
Though the responsibilities of Ankiel's new job appear somewhat vague, the 35-year-old will likely be expected to serve as a mentor to the organization's young talent, drawing on the experiences from his volatile career in baseball.
Ankiel was originally selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second round of the 1997 draft after dominating on the pitcher's mound in high school – he fashioned a 0.47 ERA while notching 162 strikeouts over 74 innings in his senior year. The young left-hander quickly emerged as one of the game's foremost pitching prospects, managing ungodly numbers in the minors as he quickly ascended to the big leagues.
Though Ankiel enjoyed moderate success over his first two seasons with the Cardinals, his career started to derail during the 2000 postseason. Completely unable to throw strikes, Ankiel issued 11 walks and nine wild pitches in just four innings and proved unable to regain his control the following year, when he allowed 25 free passes in 24 innings and was eventually demoted to the minors.
An elbow sprain sidelined Ankiel for the entire 2002 campaign and though he returned to the majors briefly in 2003, a torn ulnar collateral ligament precipitated Tommy John surgery that kept him out of action until September 2004.
Ankiel shortly thereafter abandoned his dreams of making it as a pitcher and focused instead on becoming an outfielder, eventually receiving an invitation to spring training with the Cardinals in 2006. Though a knee injury prevented him from making the team, the Cardinals added him to their 25-man roster as an outfielder in May 2007, beginning a new chapter in his turbulent career.
Ankiel spent parts of the next seven seasons in the majors, enjoying varying degrees of success across stints with six different teams – including two seasons with the Nationals. From 2007 to 2013, Ankiel compiled a .242/.304/.427 (95 OPS+) line while averaging 11 home runs per season before officially announcing his retirement in March.
