Elvis Andrus Hurts Shoulder

The Texas Rangers’ All-Star shortstop has hurt his shoulder.  Elvis Andrusleft last night’s game against the

Royals in the 9th inning complaining of shoulder pain.  Both Andrus and his manager Ron Washington have indicated the move was more precautionary than anything.

“He said he had some soreness in his right shoulder,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “He’s day to day. He’ll probably be in there tomorrow.”

Andrus is hitting .296/.368/.401 this season.  He is one of the most productive shortstops in the league based on batting average and on-base percentage.  In fact, his OBP ranks him first among all shortstops in baseball.  His batting average ranks him third.

The Rangers are 5.5 games up on the Angels.  They’ve managed to maintain a 4-5 games lead over the Angels for much of the summer despite injuries from both pitchers and position players.  Andrus, though, is a big part of the Rangers offense and defense.  After he left the game last night, Alberto Gonzalez replaced him and made a costly error leading to a Rangers loss.  Losing Andrus for any extended period of time could hurt Texas badly, but Andrus doesn’t think that will happen.

“It didn’t really bother me too much,” Andrus said of the shoulder. “I noticed that every time I threw the ball, it was slowing down. In the (on-deck) circle, that’s when I realized it was hurting. It’s not bad. I took myself out more to prevent getting hurt worse.”