Andrus turns Game 5 miscues into best season of career

Within the span of, oh, four minutes or so nearly a year ago, Elvis Andrus experienced the worst moment of his career.

His two errors at shortstop in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the American League Division Series opened the door for a Toronto Blue Jays comeback that would sink the Texas Rangers and end their World Series dreams.

Andrus carried the burden into the postgame media swarm, his eyes reddened with disappointment after, he said, letting down his team and his adopted hometown.

He was hurting.

The off-season was a grueling one for Andrus because of his glove meltdown, but not in the way many might think. Sure, the disappointment lingered, but Game 5 motivated him to make sure that would never happen again and he would again be the quality player he was earlier in his career.

Look at him now: Andrus put together the best season of his career.

He posted a team-best .302 batting average, the first .300 season of his career, and is charging into the American League Division Series as one of the Rangers’ toughest outs in a deep lineup.

But the postseason won’t be a redemption tour for Andrus, who doesn’t feel that he needs to prove anyone wrong. October will be a continuation of his reawakening.

“It’s was the toughest moment of my career,” Andrus said. “If I make those two plays, especially the first one, I think the story would be a lot different.

“Where I was at the moment in my career, I needed a change. I know I can play being average, but that’s not the kind of player I know I can be. It was an eye-opening experience for me, and the way I was feeling was not a great feeling. I was going to do everything in my power to never feel that way again.”

Andrus didn’t provide one specific thing that he overhauled from last season, but he said that he changed his preparation on and off the field. It started with hard work in the off-season, harder than normal, and included more focus pitch to pitch.

The coaching staff preached that to him in spring training, and he bought in.

“It was a lot of things together, on the field and off the field,” Andrus said.

Andrus hit throughout the season, but took off in June and sustained it the rest of the season. After a 2-for-27 stretch in early June dropped his average to .273, he batted .322 the rest of the way.

He launched six of his career-high nine home runs from that point, with 21 doubles, four triples, 48 of his career-high 69 RBIs, and 17 steals. Many of his hits came in the clutch, like a one-out game-tying two-run double in the ninth inning Aug. 6 at Colorado and a two-out game-tying RBI triple in the ninth inning Sept. 13 at Houston.

Andrus batted .351 (20 for 57) with runners in scoring position and two outs. He batted .319 (29 for 91) in high-leverage situations.

Pretty good for a hitter who batted in the lower third of the order most of the season.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre said that he and Andrus talked about Game 5. Beltre tried to downplay the moment, saying that even he has made two errors in the same inning, but acknowledged the big stage magnified what happened.

But Beltre also credited Andrus for taking the moment and applying it to this season. The result a season that showed that talent that Andrus has.

“For me, it’s not a secret, it’s not a surprise to me that he can put up a season like that,” Beltre said. “I expect it every year because he’s that good.”

Manager Jeff Banister resisted the temptation to move Andrus higher in the order in August when the Rangers were in need of a leadoff hitter after Shin-Soo Choo hit the disabled list with a broken left forearm.

Banister likes how Andrus gives the Rangers another potent hitter at the bottom of the lineup and can get on base ahead of the main run producers.

He also likes how Andrus picked himself up off the mat last October and elevated his game.

“I’ve got to pound the table for a guy who at the end of the year last year, where he was,” Banister said. “I believe that he told you all that he was going to come back focused, rededicated and have a significant year. He has just been a tremendous player for us. Not only at shortstop but in the batter’s box, to hold down the bottom part of that lineup has been incredible.”

And it all started with two errors in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS.

“I did take a lot of responsibility for that game on my shoulders, and in the off-season I might have been a little hard on myself. But at the same time I was trying to use it in the right way,” Andrus said.

“I always say everything happens for a reason. I was not going to let that define me as a player. I don’t think about proving people wrong. If you’re going good, they’re going to think nice. If you’re not, they’re not going to think nice. I think it was more proving to myself how good of a baseball player I am and how good I can be. I did it. I proved it.”　　

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Andrus turns Game 5 miscues into best season of career."