Elvis Andrus:
Energetic shortstop acquired from Texas asks, ‘Why is nobody stealing here?’
MESA, Ariz. — The Runnin’ A’s?
Newcomer Elvis Andrus would love for the A’s to steal more bases this season and isn’t shy about trying to make it happen.
The A’s haven’t been known for stealing gobs of bases in recent years, but Andrus arrives from Texas as an accomplished base stealer and already has begun talking with young players about running more.
“That’s something I noticed,” Andrus said. “‘I know you guys can hit. Why is nobody stealing here?’ They’re still young. They want to steal.”
In particular, Andrus mentioned center fielder Ramón Laureano, who has 22 steals in 225 games over three bigleague seasons and is a perfect student, in Andrus’ mind, because of his passion for running and fearlessness on the paths.
“It’s not too hard. Stealing bases isn’t rocket science,”
Andrus said. “Through spring training, I’ve talked to him already. It’s going to happen. ‘You guys are gonna steal. I’ll make sure you guys are stealing. Just stay healthy.’ ”
The A’s haven’t had a prototypical base stealer since 2017 when Rajai Davis swiped 26 bags. Marcus Semien led the 2018 club with 14, Laureano was tops in 2019 with 13 and Robbie Grossman’s eight were most in the shortened 2020 season.
Along comes Andrus, 32, who was mentored early in his career by Rangers coach Gary Pettis (a CastlemontOakland alum) and is looking forward to receiving pointers from another Oakland icon, steals king Rickey Henderson, who often suits up in green and gold and helps the players, at least in nonpandemic times.
“Even if he doesn’t give me any tips, it’d still be a dream come true,” Andrus said, “just being able to talk about baserunning with him. I can’t wait.”
Andrus’ 305 steals rank second among active players to Dee StrangeGordon’s 333. The shortstop hopes he’ll continue getting the green light in Oakland after his running game was limited last year because of his sore back.
“That’s part of my game,” he said. “I love to steal. Through the years, I’ve been able to get a little smarter, don’t try to go crazy like when I was in my 20s. Bob (Melvin) told me he wants me to be myself, go out there and do what I do all the
time and be smart and stay healthy.
“Yes, I’m planning to steal a lot of bases this year. That’s the plan.”
Melvin, entering his 11th season as A’s manager, seems open to Andrus’ ideas.
“He’s seen our guys, he’s got some opinions, he may have some things that we didn’t know,” Melvin said. “So having his resource is terrific. He’s a veteran guy.”
The key isn’t compiling a bunch of steals as much as running with purpose and posting a high success rate. A’s fans didn’t need to read or watch “Moneyball” to know that executive Billy Beane isn’t a big fan of running into unnec
essary outs — he’s fine with stolenbase attempts so long as they’re successful.
The A’s were thrown out just three times last year, stealing 26 bases in 29 attempts (90%). In Andrus’ last full season, 2019, he was successful in 31 of 39 attempts (79%).
“He’s like a point guard,” Melvin said. “He’s just got a great sense for the game. Our percentages were good last year, but maybe our volume is a little higher this year. Could be.”