Royals OF Ankiel to miss at least 1 week

Mar 14, 2010 - 10:15 PM SURPRISE, Ariz.(AP) -- Kansas City Royals outfielder Rick Ankiel will miss at least a week of spring training with a right ankle injury.

Manager Trey Hillman said Sunday he would hold Ankiel out for another six to seven games with the sore right ankle. Ankiel was scratched from the lineup Friday and Hillman was optimistic Ankiel could return after a couple of days of rest, but the Royals opted to give him additional time off.

"We've still got plenty of time," Hillman said. "Obviously, I'm taking the passive (tactic) instead of the aggressive."

"He wants to play, but he gets the big picture."

The Royals signed Ankiel as a free agent Jan. 25 to be the starting center fielder. He hit .214 in six exhibition games with a home run and four RBIs.

While Kansas City played the Oakland Athletics Sunday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Ankiel remained at the Royals complex in Surprise, Ariz. to do cardio work and lift weights.

"He doesn't know how it happened," Hillman said. "It was a little bit sore the day before (Friday). That's a mystery to me. I don't think there is anything specific that triggered it."

Ankiel, who played the past two years with the St. Louis Cardinals, signed on Jan. 25 with the Royals to be their starting center fielder. Ankiel hit .231 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs in 122 games last season.

In Ankiel's absence, prospect Jarrod Dyson, who stole 85 bases the past two seasons in the minors, started in center Sunday against the Athletics. Dyson, a 50th-round draft pick out of Southwest Mississippi Junior College in 2006, hit .310 in the 2009 Arizona Fall League.