CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Indians got a shot in the arm Tuesday.
At least half of them, literally.
Players and staff with ‘Tier 1’ and ‘Tier 2’ designations began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday on their off day and the second half will be vaccinated Thursday, again on an off day.
“We just didn’t want to do everybody on the same day, for obvious reasons,” Indians manager Terry Francona said prior to their afternoon game with the Royals Wednesday.
Francona, along with some members if his staff, were able to get vaccinated during spring training in Arizona but players weren’t able to because of age restrictions at the time.
Francona joked that because of his ongoing health issues and not feeling well that he couldn’t tell if he suffered any side effects from the vaccines.
The hope is that enough players will get them to allow the team to relax some safety protocols in accordance with MLB’s guidelines and return to some semblance of normalcy.
“I think the closer we get to normalcy, not just in baseball but in life, the better,” Francona said. “Hopefully as an organization we’ll get to that point and that’ll make some of what we do – the day-to-day stuff – a lot easier.”
The vaccines are not mandatory but the hope is that enough players will choose to get them.
“That’s everybody’s personal choice,” Francona said. “You can’t make somebody do that. That wouldn’t be right. I hope we’re able to get to a certain amount though where we’re able to as a team relax some of the restrictions. That would be really helpful.”
Sound approach – While the Indians’ bats haven’t been booming, Cleveland entered Wednesday’s game having struck out just 22 times.
For Francona, it’s too early to micromanage pitch selection in at bats.
“If they get a great pitch to hit, we want them to be ready to hit,” Francona said. “Hopefully that’s being ready to hit off of the fastball early in the count. The majority of the time, if you’re ready to hit the fastball, you’ve got a better chance than not.”
They struck out 11 times Wednesday afternoon.
Lining up – One of the challenges for the Indians early in the season is setting up the bullpen.
“We haven’t been able to pitch them on the off days so we’ve tried to keep an eye on guys,” Francona said. “Once we get through [Thursday], barring weather, we can get on a little bit of a roll and have guys where they’re getting into patterns and rhythms because that’s so much of what our game is.”
Wednesday, Francona went with James Karinchak first out of the pen to finish the seventh, flamethrower Emmanuel Clase in the eighth and Nick Wittgren in the ninth but that won't necessarily be the order going forward.
“It’ll be different on different nights,” Francona said. “It just depends on who’s hitting and what the situation is.”
Starting up – The Indians alternate site has begun playing games this week in preparation for the upcoming minor league season.
“They know that in a little less than a month they’re going to get to play their schedule, so it gives those guys something to look forward to,” Francona said. “That was tough duty last year. The fact that games are looming is helpful.”
Up next – Off Thursday. Indians will host the Tigers beginning Friday evening. Zach Plesac (0-1, 3.00 era) will make his second start of the season for Cleveland against Julio Teheran for Detroit at 7:10 p.m.
