ARLINGTON, Texas — Ron Washington has instant recall on the moment he lost his patience with Elvis Andrus in the dog days of the 2009 season. After watching his 20-year-old shortstop make another errant throw, he decided to send him a message.
"I told him he was gonna be a seven inning [expletive] shortstop if he didn't start cutting down on his errors," Washington told FOXSportsSouthwest.com after Sunday's 12-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. "And he went 20 straight games without an error after that."
Now a grizzled veteran at age 23, Andrus can laugh about that conversation. He continued the best season of his career with a two-run double in the second inning Sunday and improved his average to .305. He's now one of the best shortstops in baseball by any statistical measurement, but he knows Washington will be there to keep him grounded.
"He surprised me a little bit," Andrus said of that fateful exchange. "I had a lot of throwing errors – especially in the late innings. So I immediately went to Omar [Vizquel] and asked him what I was doing wrong."
At age 45, Vizquel started at second base for the Blue Jay on Sunday. He and Michael Young both played an integral role in the development of Andrus, who grew up idolizing Vizquel.
"Omar told me I had to start using my legs more when I threw the ball," said Andrus. "He said I wasn't using them at all, and that was making a major impact."
Andrus still finished with a surprisingly high 25 errors in 2011, but he was brilliant in the postseason. He's perfected the flip to second base from his glove to the point it almost looks routine. And Andrus only has four errors this season and is sixth in the majors in defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs.com, a site that specializes in statistical research. When he failed to charge a ball during Saturday's game and the hitter reached first base safely, Washington didn't feel the need to scold him.
"I could see how pissed he was," said Washington. "I didn't need to say anything to him."
Andrus said he enjoys measuring himself against some of the top shortstops in the American League such as Asdrubal Cabrera, Alcides Escobar and Erick Aybar. But Washington truly believes that Andrus could become the best to play his position. And that's why he's been so tough on him the past four seasons.
"He still has a high ceiling," said Washington. "But if he continues to play like this, you will finally see him become everything he's capable of being."
It's a sign of how far Andrus has come at the plate that folks were second-guessing Washington for having his shortstop sacrifice a runner to second with no outs in a tie game in the ninth inning Saturday. In the second inning Sunday, Andrus hit a ball off the wall in left field for a double to stake the Rangers to a 5-0 lead.
"The wind kept it in," he claimed after the game.
Andrus played at 195 pounds last season, but he added 20 pounds of muscle over the offseason. He said he's now playing at about 210 pounds. Andrus has always had a big frame, but now he's filled it out. And he believes the extra weight is a big part of his success.
"Knowing I'm stronger just helps me mentally," said Andrus. "I don't have to swing as hard as I did last year."
He'll probably never become a 20-home run hitter, but he's capable of finding gaps for a lot of doubles. It certainly helps that he's hitting in front of Josh Hamilton, but he's also been able to work a lot of walks. He leads the team with 24 walks and his .385 on-base percentage trails only Hamilton. Andrus has an OPS of .797, which is nearly 90 points higher than his previous best season.
He attributes a lot of his success to finally being able to separate offense and defense. Andrus said that thinking of poor at bats led to some of his problems in the field. He's been able to make sensational plays from Day 1, but too often he botched the routine plays.
"I don't do that anymore," said Andrus.
And the Rangers are one step closer to having the best shortstop in baseball.
