In what will be a daily post, we'll talk about the upcoming season for the Texas Rangers and where guys fit in on the roster. It's almost baseball time!
At 23 years old, Elvis Andrus has a ton of growing up to do as a player. That, in itself, is a great thought to have for Texas Rangers fans. Andrus has already accomplished so much in his three seasons as a big leaguer, but there's more he can accomplish.
For the third straight year, and likely for many years to come, Andrus will be the primary shortstop for the Rangers after establishing himself as one of the great young players in all of baseball.
Last season, Andrus played in 150 games for the Rangers and had career-highs in many categories. Andrus had his best batting average (.279), his best on-base percentage (.347), his best OPS (.708), a career-high 37 stolen bases and a career-high in RBIs with 60. Though he had just five home runs, that was an improvement from his zero in 2010 after hitting six as a rookie in 2009. But he did show some gap power, hitting 27 doubles. He's an identical size to Ian Kinsler (6-0, 200 pounds) and Kinsler has plenty of pop. It's not that you want Andrus swinging the bat like Kinsler necessarily, but ultimately, the Rangers have to hope he can be a 15-homer guy.
He also showed that he was prone to errors last season with a career-high 25 errors, but many of those came in a defensive slump early in the season as he was darn near perfect defensively over the last month of the season and into the playoffs.
Barring injury, Andrus should be the only face of any consequence you see manning the shortstop position for the Rangers this season.
Improvement needs: Cut down on errors, hit with some power.
