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Why Would The Royals Call Up Rick Ankiel And Not Alex Gordon?

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The Royals on Thursday activated OF Rick Ankiel to the big league roster. Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk has one simple question: Why?

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The Royals are about to call up Rick Ankiel from Omaha, where he has put up a batting line of .270/.281/.556 in 63 at bats while rehabbing. Meanwhile, Alex Gordon is batting .315/.442/.577 in 260 at bats since being sent down, presumably to learn left field.

Query: given Ankiel's injury history and his own defensive limitations,

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Maybe the Royals are trying to move Ankiel, he suggests. This would give them an opportunity to "showcase" him even that scenario is a little hard to believe considering Ankiel has missed three months of the season.

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Calling up Ankiel could potentially hurt the Royals in the long run if it's holding back at-bats for Gordon. Ned Yost has previously suggested Ankiel is likely to stay in the minor leagues for a while. It's possible he's a September call-up.

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There are reports that most teams are looking at David DeJesus at the MLB trade deadline as a corner outfielder and not a center fielder so perhaps the motivation was to get Ankiel back in center and move DeJesus (pre-hand injury) to right field where teams could get a better look at him.