Wild Pitcher Ankiel Will Switch to Outfield

Rick Ankiel surprised the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday when he turned his back on a pitching career derailed by injuries and record wildness, saying he would try to hit his way back to the major leagues as an outfielder.

“The frustration that built up, it seems like it was really eroding my spirit and starting to affect my personality off the field,” Ankiel said. “It just became apparent that it was time for me to move on and pursue becoming an outfielder.”

Manager Tony La Russa and General Manager Walt Jocketty said they didn’t try to persuade Ankiel to stick with pitching.

“Rick’s gone through a lot of tough times,” La Russa said. “He’s been hurt twice and went through that wildness period, and he just wasn’t getting the payback for going through all of that, evidently.”

Ankiel’s problems began when La Russa made him the surprise Game 1 starter in the 2000 playoffs. In the postseason opener against the Braves, Ankiel became the first major league player since 1890 to throw five wild pitches in one inning, and he totaled nine wild pitches in four playoff innings.

The wildness reappeared in 2001 when he went 1-2 with a 7.13 earned-run average and 25 walks in 24 innings before getting demoted. He didn’t make it back to the major leagues until last Sept. 7 after sitting out 2002 because of a sprained left elbow and most of the 2003 and 2004 seasons after reconstructive elbow surgery.

Ankiel, 25, had been thinking of the switch since he left winter ball in Puerto Rico after feeling a twinge in his elbow. He was impressive in his first time throwing to hitters this spring, but the outings since then have been erratic.

“It just became apparent that it was time for me to move on and pursue becoming an outfielder,” Ankiel said. “I feel relieved now and I’m happy to move on.”

As a pitcher, he had a .207 average and two homers, a double, a triple and nine RBIs in 87 at-bats. He played some games at designated hitter for the Cardinals’ rookie league team in Johnson City, Tenn., where he hit 10 homers in 2001.

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Wade Miller expects to sit out the first month of the season with the Boston Red Sox while he rehabilitates a shoulder injury.

He spent the last three months of last season on the disabled list with Houston and the Red Sox, hoping he could improve a rotation that lost Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, signed him as a free agent.

“I know I don’t want to miss that much time again,” Miller said Wednesday. “So I decided to take it slow now and miss the beginning of the season and, hopefully, come back for the last five months.”

Miller was a combined 45-25 with Houston before a frayed rotator cuff in his right shoulder limited him to 15 games last season.

He was 7-7 with a 3.35 ERA.

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Kerry Wood left the Chicago Cubs’ 6-5 loss to the Texas Rangers before the third inning because of tightness in his right shoulder. Wood took his warmup tosses in the bottom of the third but walked off the field after talking with a trainer. He called his exit from the game “precautionary.”

“The inning before, I felt tightness in the shoulder,” Wood said.

“Everything felt great. I came in and sat down, and everything felt great. It was just a little bit of tightness, and it’s too early to be messing around with anything right now. We thought it would be best to shut it down for the day.”

Wood, 27, sat out the 1999 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and he was out for two months last year with tendinitis in his right triceps. Wood was examined by a team doctor and Cub trainer Mark O’Neal, who described the ailment as “generic shoulder tightness.”

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Mike Cameron’s agent told the New York Mets they should stop entertaining trade offers for the outfielder.

Cameron had been the Mets’ center fielder before Carlos Beltran agreed in January to a $119-million, seven-year contract. New York plans to start Cameron in right field and his agent, Mike Nicotera, called General Manager Omar Minaya in an effort to end trade rumors.

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Barry Bonds took batting practice for the third straight day and also shagged fly balls in left field for the first time all spring, a sign that he’s progressing in his rehabilitation from arthroscopic knee surgery Jan. 31.

With San Francisco Giant hitting coach Joe Lefebvre looking on, Bonds hit four home runs, all to right field or right-center.

“It’s like Ted Williams used to hit,” Manager Felipe Alou said. “He picks up the bat, hits line drives and puts the ball over the fence.

“He’s still favoring his knee a bit, but the timing is there.”

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Cleveland Indian outfielder Juan Gonzalez has a strained left hamstring.

“Juan felt some tightness and I won’t really know a lot more until he gets out there on a good day and gives it a try,” Manager Eric Wedge said.