Rick Ankiel to DL, Ka’aihue to be recalled

Mike Swanson announced this afternoon that Rick Ankiel has been placed on the 15-day DL with a right quad strain retroactive to yesterday. Ankiel had been bothered by the injury since April 24 when he left in the middle of the Royals 9-7 loss to Minnesota in Kansas City but had pinch-hit on May 1 and 2.

Ankiel has a .210/.275/.419 line in 62 at bats in 2010. Mitch Maier, who’s hit .321 since replacing Ankiel, will continue to man centerfield.

With Jose Guillen 3 for his last 29 at bats, Kila Ka’aihue, 2008 Royals Minor League Player of the Year, will be recalled to fill Ankiel’s roster spot. Ka’aihue is hitting .301 in Omaha with .466 on base percentage. He also has seven homeruns on the year.

David Lough, Jordan Parraz or Jai Miller are outfielders in Omaha who could have come up to take Ankiel’s spot to fill in and provide a day off for the outfield. With Alex Gordon’s demotion to Omaha and transition to the outfield, one of those three will be displaced from their everyday spot. Most likely, Lough or Parraz would fit best since Jai Miller is out of options and would have to pass through waivers (again) to return to Omaha.

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