Elvis Andrus

Venezuelan American baseball player (born 1988)

Elvis Augusto Andrus Torres (born August 26, 1988) is a Venezuelan American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago White Sox. He is a two time All Star. Andrus was born in the city of Maracay in Venezuela. As an international prospect, he signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves at the age of 16 in 2005. Entering 2007, he was rated by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in the Atlanta Braves organization. Midway through the 2007 season, Andrus was traded to Texas. Andrus was called up to the major leagues in 2009 and was the Rangers' Opening Day starting shortstop at the age of 20. After his first season, he finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Andrus earned the first All Star selection of his career in 2010 and later received his second nomination in 2012. Andrus manned the Rangers' left infield alongside third baseman Adrián Beltré for eight years, forming a friendship that was noted for the former's practical jokes on the latter. After 12 seasons with the Rangers, Andrus was traded to Oakland in February 2021. Andrus maintained his role as starting shortstop with the Athletics and remained with the team for one and a half seasons before being traded to Chicago in 2022. He played his 1,900th career game in 2022 and is fourth among active players in games played as of 2023. In 2023, he recorded the 2,000th hit of his career.

Andrus was born in Maracay, Venezuela, the son of Emilio and Elvia Andrus. Emilio Andrus was a university professor; he died when Elvis was seven years old. Some Venezuelan families name their children after famous non Venezuelan people, but Andrus said that he is not sure whether he was named after Elvis Presley. Andrus said, "I asked my mother a lot of times, but she never told me. Maybe my dad liked Elvis Presley. I'm not sure about that."

At the age of 16, Andrus was signed by the Atlanta Braves and received a signing bonus of more than $500,000. He started the 2005 season with the Orlando Braves of the Gulf Coast League, and was promoted to Danville late in the season. He spent 2006 with Class A Rome, being named to the South Atlantic League All Star team. In 2007, Andrus joined the Class A Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Carolina League. During the season, he was selected to the All Star Futures Game and was selected again for the showcase in 2008. On July 31, 2007, Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and three minor league pitchers (Matt Harrison, Neftalí Feliz and Beau Jones) were traded from the Braves to the Rangers for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay.

With Rangers shortstop Michael Young agreeing to move to third base in 2009, Andrus earned the starting job on Opening Day. He was the second youngest player in the American League at the time. As Andrus was only 20 years old, Texas signed veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel for insurance. Andrus stole his 20th base on July 28, 2009, in his rookie season. Andrus was the 10th player in major league history to steal 20 bases under the age of 21. The last player to do that was his then teammate Andruw Jones, who had accomplished the feat in 1997 with the Atlanta Braves. Andrus finished the 2009 season hitting .267 with 6 home runs and 33 stolen bases, finishing second in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Andrus was named to the 2010 American League All Star team as a reserve shortstop. In 2010, he batted .265, without any home runs. On September 14, he stole his 40th stolen base of the season against the Oakland Athletics, stealing second base from Bartolo Colón. Andrus later surpassed Ian Kinsler for the Texas Rangers all time leader in stolen bases with 175. He finished the year again leading the American League in sacrifice hits (16) while batting .271 and scoring 91 runs. Andrus began the 2014 season with an 11 game hitting streak that ultimately ended with an early ejection April 13. On June 8, Andrus had a 39 game hitting streak against the Cleveland Indians snapped as he went 0 for 4. That game marked the first time in his career where he did not get a hit against the Indians. Only Vladimir Guerrero had a longer streak against a team (with 44, against Texas). Andrus stole his 180th career stolen base against the Seattle Mariners but led the American League in caught stealing with 15, batting .263 for the season. Andrus finished 2015 with career lows in batting average (.258), OBP (.309), and sacrifice hits, while posting a career best seven home runs and stealing 25 bags for the AL West champion Rangers. On defense, he led the major leagues in assists, with 516. He batted .182 in the Division Series against Toronto and made two of the team's three errors in the pivotal seventh inning of Game 5, won by the Blue Jays. In 2016, hit .302 with eight home runs and 69 RBIs. He continued the following season, in 2017, to post a career offensive season, hitting .297 with 20 home runs and 88 RBIs and 25 steals in 158 games. On defense, he led the major leagues in assists, with 490. On April 11, 2018, Andrus was hit by a pitch on his right arm and left the game. X rays and CT scans tested positive that Andrus had suffered a fractured right elbow. As a result, he was placed on the injured list for the first time of his Major League career. No surgery was required, but to keep out of baseball activity for 6 8 weeks. He was activated on June 18 from the injured list. Andrus finished 2018 hitting .256/.308/.367/.675 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI. Andrus hit .275/.313/.393/.707 with 12 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases in 2019. He tied for the AL lead with 10 sacrifice flies. In 2020, Andrus batted .194/.252/.330 with three home runs and seven RBIs in 103 at bats, and his .969 fielding percentage was his lowest in 10 seasons.

On February 6, 2021, Andrus and Aramis Garcia were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Khris Davis, Jonah Heim, and Dane Acker. In his first year in Oakland, Andrus batted .243/.294/.320 with 3 home runs, 37 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 146 games. On August 17, 2022, Andrus was released by the Athletics.

The Chicago White Sox signed Andrus to a major league contract on August 19, 2022. On February 20, 2023, Andrus signed a one year contract to return to the White Sox. On April 5, Andrus hit his 2,000 career hit. He became a free agent following the season.

On March 3, 2024, Andrus signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. On March 22, Andrus was released by Arizona after failing to make the Opening Day roster.

Andrus is a Christian. In 2012, Andrus donated $12,500 to OurCalling, a Christian charity that helps homeless people in Dallas County. Andrus married girlfriend Cori Febles in a ceremony at his home on June 1, 2017. The couple welcomed their first child, Elvis Emilio, on July 6, 2017. On November 28, 2018, they welcomed their second child, a girl, named Lucia Alessandra. For the 2019 season, Andrus adopted "Baby Shark" as his walk up song because it reminded him of his children. Two of Andrus' brothers remain in Venezuela. Andrus voiced concern about his home country during civil unrest in early 2014. "As a human being, you always get angry when you see what's happening with the military back home doing stuff to the civils, and to the students, and that's what really gets me angry. I'm not a political guy, but I just hate when you see somebody just walking and trying to say something get hit by police, or get hit by any military from the country that's supposed to defend the country instead of shoot him or hit him," he said. Andrus' older brother Erold Andrus played in the independent leagues in 2009 and 2010 as an outfielder. He has played in the organizations of several MLB teams. During spring training of 2011, though Erold was in minor league camp, he got the opportunity to play in a Rangers spring training game, the first time that Erold and Elvis played together in the United States. On July 26, 2019, Andrus became a naturalized US citizen.