Elvis Andrus gained plenty of fans over the weekend. The much maligned Oakland A’s shortstop had felt his ankle pop as he rounded third en route to scoring the game winning run, gutting out those final 90 feet to help the A’s stave off elimination for another day. It turned out that he had fractured his fibula on that play, requiring surgery that would leave him sidelined for the rest of the year.
Andrus underwent that surgery on Wednesday. According to the A’s, the surgery was successful, and he is expected to be ready for the start of spring trianing.
Elvis Andrus has successful surgery on fractured fibula
While Andrus did not have a successful first season in Oakland, it was not as bad as the overall numbers appear. He shook off a brutal start to the 2021 season to produce a .243/.294/.320 batting line in his 541 plate appearances, hitting 25 doubles and stealing 12 bases.
That production also marked the fourth consecutive season where he has been subpar with the bat. His 73 OPS+ is nothing to write home about, nor would it seemingly be anything that would guarantee him a starting role going forward.
But Andrus had been more than his numbers for the A’s. He took over a leadership role in the locker room, becoming a veteran voice that could help the rest of the roster. Andrus helped other players with their baserunning, teaching the finer points of stealing bases and taking that extra bag.
With his final run scored, Andrus also showed the heart and desire that had seemingly been lacking at times on the roster. Maybe the overall numbers were not where anyone had wanted them to be, but he had been much more than his production.
Elvis Andrus had successful surgery on his leg and should be ready for spring training. Even if the production is lacking, the Oakland A’s need his heart and desire.