Indians: Terry Francona is putting in a Manager of the Year performance

The Indians should see manager Terry Francona with some post-season hardware.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the Indians have a newly injured player. Aaron Civale left Monday’s game against the Cubs with a finger issue on his pitching hand. Considering the Tribe already doesn’t have a reliable fourth or fifth starter, as well as injuries to Zach Plesac and Justin Bieber, you’d think the Tribe would be in panic mode. Nope, not with Terry Francona at the helm.

The Tribe has been dealing with injuries to all sorts of their key guys. From Franmil Reyes to Bieber, to Jordan Luplow, to Plesac, and even Roberto Perez. The Tribe can’t catch a break. Despite all this, they’ve seen several younger players (Bobby Bradley, Amed Rosario, Harold Ramirez) step up, and their bullpen remains unflappable.

Sure, the starting rotation looks like swiss cheese with all the holes in it, but yet they persist. Thanks to Francona.

Maybe the best work of his career.

Terry Francona is, in our opinion, the runaway favorite for Manager of the Year. Despite all these injuries, the Tribe sits at 40-30 entering Tuesday. Not bad considering that most of your roster has been hurt at some point. Not only that, but the Indians have had to deal with the fact that, on paper, this year’s team wasn’t nearly as good as the previous few.

With lowered expectations, injuries, and a rough start to many of the hitters, many thought the Indians wouldn’t be competing this year. Yet, here they are nearing the All-Star break, and not only are they competing but they have half (it feels like half) of their team coming back in the next few weeks, all at a time when Francona-led Tribe teams often kick thins up into overdrive.

The Tribe are only two games back of the White Sox for the AL Central, and could easily overtake them before the calendar turns to July.

Give this man the Manager of the Year award now, and save the debate.