Ankiel status 'iffy' for start of season

JUPITER, Fla. -- Rick Ankiel won't pitch in a game again until at least next week, jeopardizing his chances of making the St. Louis Cardinals' opening-day roster.

The 22-year-old left-hander, bothered by elbow tendinitis, has made just one start in spring training, giving up six runs in two innings on March 3. The following day he complained of elbow pain, and he hasn't appeared in a game since.

St. Louis hopes Ankiel will be able to face batters in a simulated game by early next week.

"I think what we decided was don't look too far ahead," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Tuesday. "Let him throw tomorrow, see how he feels. Let him throw Friday, and if everything OK he faces hitters on Monday, and then we'll see how he feels."

The Cardinals would like Ankiel to make three or four starts to tune up for the season, and there's less than three weeks until the April 1 opener against Colorado.

"Time's running out," general manager Walt Jocketty said. "There's no sense in rushing it. If he's not ready, we'll figure out from there what we do."

The Cardinals have seven candidates for the starting rotation, which is headed by Matt Morris, Woody Williams and Darryl Kile.

In addition to Ankiel, Bud Smith, Andy Benes and Garrett Stephenson are battling for spots.

Benes, coming off knee surgery following his worst season, has been impressive in three spring starts, allowing three runs in 10 innings. Stephenson, who had reconstructive elbow surgery 11 months ago, has thrown 6 2/3 scoreless innings.

"It's not like we need to rush him to get him ready," Jocketty said of Ankiel. "That's not the approach we want to take."

Ankiel hasn't fared well since throwing nine wild pitches in four innings during the 2000 playoffs. In the postseason opener against Atlanta, he became the first major league pitcher to throw five wild pitches in one inning since Sept. 15, 1890, when Bert Cunningham did it for Buffalo of the Players League.

Last year, Ankiel was 1-2 with a 7.13 ERA in six starts for the Cardinals, walking 25 in 24 innings. He then went 0-2 with 20.77 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Memphis and 5-3 with a 1.33 ERA in 14 starts at Johnson City of Appalachian Rookie League.

Prospect Josh Pearce, the Cardinals' second-round draft pick in 1999, will take Ankiel's spot in the spring rotation for the second straight game on Wednesday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Pearce, 24, gave up one run and four hits in three innings against the Twins on March 8.

Pearce began last season at Double-A New Haven and moved up to Triple-A Memphis, going 4-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 10 starts.

"I think he's got a feel for pitching," La Russa said. "He's got a variety of pitches that he can throw for strikes and he's our primary insurance at Triple-A in case something happens."

Notes: The Cardinals optioned five players to the minor leagues and reassigned three others on Tuesday, including INF Stubby Clapp, who batted .200 in 25 at-bats with St. Louis last year and became a fan favorite because of his hustling play and nickname. Clapp was reassigned to the minor league camp. RHPs Mike Crudale and Jeremy Lambert were optioned to Triple-A Memphis, RHP Jimmy Journell was sent to Double-A New Haven and RHP Chance Caple was optioned to Class-A Potomac. INF Luis Garcia was optioned to New Haven and RHPs Kevin Sheredy and Clint Weibl also were reassigned to the minor league camp.