CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – There may not be a better manager in baseball at reading his players than Terry Francona.
With Gerrit Cole on the hill for the Yankees Tuesday night, Francona decided to give shortstop Amed Rosario and center fielder Myles Straw the night off.
“This is a guy that a lot of people have trouble with, but Amed’s had a tough time,” Francona said. “I just thought, you know what? Arias is a pretty good fastball hitter. Let's go ahead and flip it up where we can play a med tomorrow and we could have him off the bench.”
Gabriel Arias will start at shortstop to give Rosario a breather.
It’s the same situation for Straw.
“Yeah, and he hit that ball off his calf [Monday] night, so I know he was a little sore,” Francona said. “But again, it's just a guy he's kind of had a tough time with and I don't want Gonzi sitting three, four games in a row, so I just figured we'd play them [Wednesday].”
Will Brennan slides over to center and Oscar Gonzalez will be in right field for game two with New York.
Francona likes how Brennan and Arias have handled their reserve roles.
“I think they have handled themselves beyond their years,” Francona said. “By that, I mean a lot of times with young guys what'll happen is they're mad they're not playing and they sit down there and they're mad, so you got to go get 'em when it's time to get 'em in the game. But with Arias, with Brennan, they're always ready. I'll look up and they're moving and they've done a really good job.
“It's not an easy job, it's not an easy life, but they stay ready and we appreciate that and I think it's kind of beyond their years.”
Long toss – A day after being moved to the 60-day injured list, starter Triston McKenzie picked up a baseball and threw some long toss.
Francona complimented McKenzie’s patience with the shoulder strain injury.
“I think Tristan's really handled it well,” Francona said. “He keeps pushing, pushing, pushing. And then when the trainers say here's like, okay, today he went out and played catch today for the first time it was only I think 40 feet and it was 20 throws. But he's doing a really job and because of that, he's going to give himself the best chance to come back, the healthiest he can be and the most productive.”
McKenzie is expected back at the end of May.
Love of the game – It’s easy to see how much Francona is enjoying managing these young Guardians that last two seasons.
“I like this group. I think we all do,” Francona said. “Me and all the coaches and Chris [Antonetti] and Churn [Mike Chernoff] and the guys, there are no guarantees. I mean, the way we win is hard, but it beats the hell out of losing. And I tell 'em all the time, if they just play the game the way they're supposed to, regardless of what our record is, we'll stay together and we'll fight through stuff and we'll figure stuff out together. And that's kind of how I feel. But it is a good feeling when you kind of have an affection for how our guys play and how they go about it.”
Francona got a kick out of reliever James Karinchak hugging catcher Mike Zunino after getting out of the eighth inning following a leadoff triple that was the result of Straw’s inability to come up with a diving catch of a sinking line drive to center field.
“I know there's times I'm probably showing my age and I think, okay, maybe we should tone it down, but I actually felt like doing it too when he got through that because it was pretty exciting,” Francona said. “I want them to enjoy the game. And again, this is just my feeling, but when it's just pure joy, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think sometimes if you're looking for attention, sometimes you get it, but I just thought he was really excited and I was too. I mean when he hugs the catcher, that to me speaks volumes. It's not just about him. He was just really excited that we got him out.”
Plan A – Francona hopes to start right-hander Peyton Battenfield, who was called up from AAA Columbus on Monday, Wednesday afternoon for the series finale – provided he’s not needed Tuesday night.
“We're not sure yet. He's in the bullpen [Tuesday night],” Francona said. “We got to get there.”
Postgame show – The Guardians announced Walk the Moon will perform at Progressive Field June 24 following their 4:10 game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
