10 Reasons Elvis Andrus Will Be the AL's Starting Shortstop in the All-Star Game

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In 2010 Elvis Andrus had an average year batting average-wise and still made the AL All-Star team. 

Now heading into his third season in the "Bigs," Andrus has the opportunity and ability to emerge as the AL's top short stop.

Andrus hit .265/.342/.301 in 2010 with 35 runs batted in, 32 stolen bases and no home runs. 

What will he have to do to be top gun come mid-July in 2011?

10. His Ability to Make Contact

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Last season Andrus finished fourth in the AL amongst all shortstops in hits. 

He finished the season with 156 hits, only behind: The New York Yankees' Derek Jeter (179), the Boston Red Sox' Marco Scutaro (174) and the Chicago White Sox' Alexi Ramirez (165).

Both, Jeter (36-years-old) and Scutaro (35-years-old) are getting up there in age.

If both of them can still produce equal numbers from last year it will be a surprise. 

Ramirez himself is 29-years-old and had a stellar year himself; winning the Silver Slugger award for AL shortstops last season.

The problem with Ramirez is he is getting older as well and has been inconsistent through out his career.

Andrus is only 22-years-old and things are looking promising for the young gun and the Texas Rangers.

9. He Has a Knack For Scoring Runs

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Andrus was third among AL shortstops in 2010 for runs scored.

Again, behind the New York Yankee Derek Jeter (111) and the Boston Red Sox Marco Scutaro (92).

With Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and the addition of Adrian Beltre, Andrus should be scoring plenty of runs come 2011.

8. Could Lead All Short—Stops In Triples

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Last season Andrus finished third respectively with triples (3) among shortstops in the AL.

Only Cliff Pennington of the Oakland Athletics (eight), Eric Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels (four) and Alex Casilla of the Minnesota Twins (four) finished ahead of him.

With such a small margin between the four, Andrus could easily double his production from last season if he is able to hit the gaps.

7. Has an a Great Eye at The Plate

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Andrus led all shortstops with 64 bases on balls last season.

He has great patience at the plate not forcing himself to swing at a pitch he doesn't like, as he swung at first pitches only 17 percent of the time last season.

This is something you want out of your lead off man, he allows everyone to see what may and may not be working for the pitcher that outing.

Adding another way to get on base doesn't hurt either, as this will increase his chances of a stolen base and scoring more runs.

6. Speed Kills

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In 2010 Andrus dominated the base paths among all AL shortstops. He managed to successfully steal 32 bases.

The second most was by Eric Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels who accumulated 22.

Andrus will need to improve his stealing percentage though in 2011 to continue his domination as he was caught stealing 15 times.

He should be able to improve on his base running ability over the course of the offseason, boosting his chances of a higher success rate on the basepaths.

5. Has a Knack For Getting on Base

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Andrus led all AL shortstops in 2010 with an on-base-percentage of .342.

He was third in the AL last year with singles—138—and as mentioned earlier he led all AL shortstops in walks.

With his patience and talent at the plate, Andrus increased his percentage from his rookie season by 13 percent last year.

This hopefully leads to an even higher percentage in 2011.

4. A Natural Assist Man

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Andrus can also get it done in the field.

In 2010 he finished fourth in assists with 401 in the AL among shortstops.

With his range and tangibles to cover space his assist count should only grow come 2011.

3. Keeps The Pearl in Play

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Out of all the AL shortstops with at least 1,000 innings he was fourth in errors committed with 16.

Only nine of those errors where made while fielding the ball, six were errors on throws and one due to a dropped catch.

If Andrus can continue his pace of improvement in the field as he did in 2010, he could finish with only 10 errors in 2011.

2. Put Out Or Shut Out

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Andrus was third in the AL for shortstops in put outs in 2010, finishing with 242.

Only Alexi Ramirez (249) and Yuniesky Betancourt (256) finished with more put outs.

He was so close to the top put out man in 2010 and very well could be on top come 2011.

1. Keeps It Clean In The Field

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Among all AL shortstops with at least 1,000 innings played in 2010 Anrdus finished fourth in fielding percentage with .976 percent.

He fielded 544 balls in 2010 with 88 percent of those balls finishing in outs. 

Andrus could become a perennial All-Star shortstop in 2011 if he can increase his percentage as a fielder during spring training.