No manager blends the human and the math quite like Terry Francona
This column is adapted from an essay I did on MLB Network’s “MLB Now” on Thursday.
To hear certain sabermetric extremists tell it — I’m talking to you, MLB Network’s Brian Kenny — all a major-league manager must do is follow a series of math equations.
If only it were that simple.
The job, as anyone who has stepped foot in a clubhouse can attest, also involves a significant human element. The best current managers excel at combining both worlds, and I’m not sure any manager is doing that better this season than the Indians’ Terry Francona.
Think back to the Indians at the start of the season. Michael Brantley was hurt. Abraham Almonte was suspended. The Indians did not know who was playing center or left field. They did not who was leading off. Ross Detwiler was their only left-handed reliever.
To be sure, every team faces such challenges. The Indians faced another challenge when Marlon Byrd was suspended on June 1 and yet another when Yan Gomes separated his shoulder on July 17. But consider how Francona managed through all that.
In late April, acting upon an idea he broached in the spring, Francona persuaded Carlos Santana to bat leadoff for the first time in his career — Santana, given his high on-base percentage, was the proper sabermetric choice, if not the most traditional one.
Francona also unearthed the versatile Jose Ramirez, drawing the most out of a player who previously had failed to hit. He even continued his détente with Trevor Bauer, a free thinker who frequently bewildered authority figures in the past.
How did Francona pull off all this, and more? Not simply by consulting his laptop. No, Indians people will tell you that Francona understands player’s strengths and puts them in position to leverage those strengths. He looks for reasons players might succeed rather than ways they might fail. He builds relationships, builds trust, squeezes every ounce out of his roster — something that is particularly critical for the manager of a low-revenue team.
You want sabermetric bonafides? The Indians lead the majors in percentage of plate appearances with the platoon advantage, not just when they’re hitting, but also when they’re pitching. Yes, they carry a good number of switch-hitters, but if the season ends that way, they would be the first team to lead in both categories since the 1985 Cardinals.
The Indians’ baserunning ranks near the top of the majors in both the standard and advanced metrics. And consider how Francona has used lefty reliever Andrew Miller — once in the sixth inning, seven times in the seventh, eight times in the eighth, six times in the ninth or later. High leverage, baby. Of course, it helps that Miller is flexible, willing to be used however his team desires.
Obviously, you cannot give Francona all of the credit for the Indians’ success. Players like Ramirez and Tyler Naquin exceeded expectations. The front office built the core, signed Rajai Davis and Mike Napoli last winter, traded for Miller and Brandon Guyer at the deadline. It’s a group effort. It always is. And now, as the Indians face the losses of Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar while closing in on the AL Central title, they will proceed as they always do, considering any and all creative solutions for the postseason.
My friend Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer created a fuss this week when he wrote, after the Carrasco injury, that the team’s postseason dreams were over. Hoyn-sie has been around forever. He might very well be correct. But all season long, Francona has found a way.
