Dennis Tankersley

He, his wife Vicki and daughter Madison reside in St. Charles, MO during the off-season...Selected by the Red Sox in the 38th round of the June 1997 draft out of St. Charles High School in Missouri, but did not sign...Attended Meramec Junior College in St. Louis...Finished 3-2 with a 2.04 ERA (39.2IP/9ER) in eight outings for Licey in the Dominican Winter League following the 2006 season.

2006

Spent the entire season at Triple A Memphis after signing with the St. Louis Cardinals as a minor league free agent...Led the Pacific Coast League with 15 losses...second in the league with 167.2 innings pitched and tied for second with 28 games started...Finished 2-2 with a 3.80 ERA (42.2IP/18ER) in seven starts during May...Compiled a 2.20 ERA (32.2IP/8ER) in five starts during June, posting a 1-4 record and 32 strikeouts...Fanned a season-best 10 batters on July 31 versus Colorado Springs...Fared better against righthanded batters, limiting them to a .239 batting average (85x355)...lefties hit .311 (88x283) with him on the mound.

2005

Tied for ninth in the Pacific Coast League with a 4.24 ERA for Triple A Omaha in the Royals organization in 2005...Split time between the starting rotation and bullpen for Omaha -- finished 7-8 with a 4.60 ERA (117.1IP/60ER) in 23 starts and 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA (18.2IP/4ER) in nine relief outings...Finished 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA (24.2IP/6ER) in six outings (two starts) during June...Went the distance to earn the win on August 19 at New Orleans, allowing three runs in nine innings of work...Fanned a season-high 11 batters on August 29 versus Iowa...Posted a 2-2 record and 2.82 ERA (38.1IP/12ER) in six starts during August.

2004

Appeared in nine games during two stints with the San Diego Padres in 2004...Recalled by San Diego from Triple A Portland May 21...Fanned a career-high nine batters on May 29 at Milwaukee, suffering the loss after allowing three unearned runs in six innings of work...Optioned back to Triple A by the Padres on June 20 -- had compiled a 0-3 record and 3.20 ERA (25.1IP/9ER) in seven outings (four starts) with San Diego...Returned to San Diego after being recalled from Portland on August 24 -- made two starts before being optioned back to Portland on September 5...Acquired by the Kansas City Royals in a four-player deal on November 8.

2003

Made one start with San Diego after being recalled from Portland on April 9, 2003...Optioned back to Triple A for the remainder of the season on April 10.

2002

Recalled for his first major league action by the Padres from Double A Mobile on May 10, 2002...Made his major league debut on May 10 at Atlanta, earning a no-decision after limiting the Braves to two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings pitched...Earned his first major league win on May 26 at Milwaukee -- belted a solo home run in the third inning off Mike Buddie to become the first Padres pitcher to earn his first major league win and hit his first major league home run in the same game...Optioned back to Mobile by the Padres on June 11...Recalled for the remainder of the season by the Padres from Portland on August 17...Established a career high with three innings of relief on September 6 at Colorado.

2001

Tabbed the Padres Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2001 after combining for a 10-4 record and 1.98 ERA (136.1IP/30ER) in 25 appearances (24 starts) with Single A Lake Elsinore, Mobile and Portland...Selected to participate in the Futures Game held prior to Major League Baseball's All-Star Game in Seattle...Earned a spot on the California League's post-season all-star squad with Lake Elsinore...Rated as possessing the best breaking pitch in the California League by Baseball America...Posted a five-game winning streak for Lake Elsinore over a seven-outing stretch April 17-May 21. Did not allow a run over a four-outing stretch April 17-May 4, tossing 23.0 innings...Fanned 11 batters on May 4 versus High Desert...Registered a season-best 12 strikeouts in a win on May 16 versus Visalia with Lake Elsinore -- matched the high with 12 strikeouts in his first outing for Mobile in the first game of a doubleheader on May 26 versus Birmingham...tabbed the California League Pitcher of the Week for May 14-20 for his efforts on May 16...Compiled a 2-0 record and 0.61 ERA (29.2IP/2ER) in five starts during July for Mobile...Named the top prospect in the California League, second-best prospect in the Padres organization and sixth best prospect in the Southern League following the season by Baseball America...Tabbed the fourth-best righthanded pitching prospect following the season by Baseball America.

2000

Opened the season with the Red Sox's Single-A club in Augusta before being acquired by the Padres June 30...went 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA in 12 starts the rest of the way at Single-A Fort Wayne and was named the No. 12 prospect in the Midwest League by Baseball America...overall, between the 2 stops, posted a 10-5 record and a 3.49 ERA (55 ER/141.2 IP) in 27 starts...opened the year 0-3 with a 6.55 ERA (16 ER/22.0 IP) over his first 5 starts with Augusta April 7-29, but rebounded over his final 10 outings, to go 5-0 with a 3.04 ERA (18 ER/53.1 IP) May 7-June 28...after the trade, ranked 2nd in the Midwest League in strikeouts per 9 innings (10.23)...struck out 10 or more in 5 of his 12 starts...recorded 11 strikeouts over 5.1 scoreless innings as Fort Wayne posted a 2-0 victory July 23 vs. Kane County...fanned 11 of 14 batters, including 8 in a row between the first and 4th innings, the 2nd-longest streak in the minors in 2000...went on to become just the 3rd pitcher in the minor leagues to post 10 or more strikeouts in 3 consecutive 2000 starts with 10 K's July 29 vs. Michigan and again August 3 at West Michigan...retired 24 of the 27 West Michigan hitters faced and allowed just one unearned run and 2 hits...punched out 11 in a 6-2 victory August 24 at Peoria...fanned 10 over 6.0 innings August 29 vs. Beloit, his 5th double-digit strikeout performance in 8 starts.

1999

Made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox after signing with Boston as a draft-and-follow on May 18, 1999...Did not allow an earned run during a seven-outing stretch July 1-August 5, tossing 22.0 innings.