Indians: Team will be without manager Terry Francona for the rest of the season

The Indians will finish the season without Terry Francona.

The injury woes for the 2021 season just continue to press on, with news coming out Thursday that the Cleveland Indians will be without Terry Francona for the rest of the regular season. The second-winningest manager in franchise history is dealing with a foot issue that has limited his mobility and caused him to wear a boot all year. He was dealing with a staph infection in his foot and had surgery to remove the infection in February.

He’s also dealing with a hip issue that will also require surgery as well. Francona also missed a chunk of the 2020 season as well, with a gastrointestinal issue that caused him to seek treatment at the Cleveland Clinic for weeks. While there, he developed blood clotting issues as well.

Needless to say, it’s been a rough few years for Francona.

Sandy Alomar is not taking over for Terry Francona as Indians manager

Sandy Alomar took over for Terry Francona last season and led the Indians to a playoff spot. For whatever reason, that won’t be the case this year, as bench coach DeMarlo Hale will be the interim manager for the remainder of the season. Mike Sarbaug, the current third base coach will take over for Hale, and assistant coach Kyle Hudson is moving over to be the third base coach.

The decision for Francona to miss the rest of the year could be solely about his health but it may not have happened if the Tribe were still in a better position for the playoffs. More so, this will now cause many to wonder if Francona has gotten to a point in his career where retiring may be the next logical step.

Most people, this writer included, don’t want to see Francona retire, so hopefully, this time off will help the Indians’ second-all-time-winningest manager heal up and come back healthy.