Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Elvis Andrus slims down, focuses on 2015

There was something different about Elvis Andrus's frame when he was standing with a bunch of kids at a charity event this week.

Indeed, the Texas Rangers' starting shortstop is thinner.

In 2009, his rookie season, Andrus weighed 185 pounds. But last season, his sixth, he reached 205. Now he wants to get down to about 190.

“I think that’s the way I’m going to feel great and help me,” he said.

Last season didn’t help Andrus.

He didn’t have much power behind him in the lineup. He tied his career low with 72 runs scored and was caught stealing a major league-leading 15 times in 157 games. He did have a career-high 35 doubles, but his fielding percentage was .971, his lowest in two seasons. Eighty-eight percent of the plays he made were outs, tied for the lowest of his career.

Is all this attributed to extra weight?

"Last year was a year I want to put behind me. But it was a year for me that I learned the most about myself,” Andrus said. “It was a tough year for the whole organization, and we’re trying to bounce back. And I’m doing the same thing."

Andrus had to break in a new second baseman, deal with a gimpy left fielder and an indecisive center fielder, and then do his thing at the plate. He never encountered a terrible season in the big leagues until 2014, when the Rangers were on the verge of losing 100 games before a September surge prevented it.

He had to become more of a leader and help rookie second baseman Rougned Odor cover more ground in shallow left and center fields, because Shin-Soo Choo was nursing a bad ankle and Leonys Martin was struggling in center.

Andrus was hoping for a leadoff hitter who would run more. Choo, the leadoff man for the majority of the season, is a station-to-station runner, who makes good contact, but he struggled last season. When Choo was placed on the DL and Martin got at-bats in the leadoff spot, things improved for Andrus.

But there’s no telling what new manager Jeff Banister wants to do with the lineup. It's probable Andrus will remain in the two-hole, but it's uncertain if Martin will be the leadoff hitter?

Andrus isn’t waiting to find out because he’s taking the steps to be ready for 2015 and make sure there’s no repeat of what happened last season.

“I started training two weeks ago, and I lost seven pounds already,” Andrus said. “I want to lose three or four more and I want to get to where I was my rookie year, so it will help me with my speed and agility, range and everything.”

Adrian Beltre is the heart and soul of this team. The MVP. The father figure. The big brother. Whatever you want to call him.

Andrus is emerging as a leader himself, slimmer frame and all.

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