Francona out Sunday, might miss next series
The Indians were without manager Terry Francona for Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Twins, and they might miss him on Monday and Tuesday in Cincinnati as well.
Francona reported to Target Field on Sunday morning and did his usual pregame preparations and Zoom call with media, but left the ballpark to return to the team hotel prior to first pitch due to a minor gastrointestinal condition. He later departed for Cleveland and will visit the Cleveland Clinic on Monday morning. Whether he meets the team in Cincinnati later in the day has yet to be determined.
“We’ll have more information tomorrow,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, “but our priority is making sure Tito gets checked out. He’ll be at the Clinic tomorrow morning. He has an appointment. And then we’ll assess things from there.
“I think it’s reasonable to conclude that he may not join us in Cincinnati. And that’s as much for logistic reasons as anything else. For him to join us, he would then have to fly from Cleveland back to Cincinnati, which, for only a two-game series, I’m not sure that would make a ton of sense.”
The Tribe’s skipper has dealt with this issue over the past few months and had to miss some time during Spring Training in Arizona with a similar issue. The team is confident that this is not related to COVID-19.
First-base and catching coach Sandy Alomar Jr. stepped in to manage Sunday’s contest. Kyle Hudson, who is in his first season as a Major League coaching assistant, coached first base.
Balancing the infield
Because the Indians decided to carry three utility infielders behind four starters who rarely get days off, Francona is doing his best to balance when Mike Freeman, Yu Chang and Christian Arroyo can get some at-bats. Before he left the ballpark on Sunday, Francona penciled in Francisco Lindor as the team’s designated hitter to get Freeman some time in the field.
“The four [starting] infielders, they basically play just about every day, and they probably should,” Francona said. “You try to encourage the other guys to stay ready because something happens and all of a sudden, you see a guy getting the chance to play not only sparingly, but every day. You just try to make sure they continue to do their work and stay as ready as they can.”
Reports from Lake County
Without Minor League play, teams are relying on their 60-man player pool if they need a body. In a regular season, the Major League club gets daily reports from each of its affiliates to keep tabs on all of their Minor Leaguers. Even though the Tribe’s player pool is only playing simulated games at their alternate training site in Lake County, they’re still operating the same way.
“They have a report that goes out every day,” Francona said. “It’s actually pretty detailed on what everybody’s doing. Not just in games, but in their early work, just to keep everybody in the loop.”