Terry Francona is proving to be the best manager in all of baseball simply because he is playing chess while the rest of baseball is playing checkers. We have seen teams go on streaks like this before. We have seen Joe Torre get really hot with the Yankees, and Francona was once very hot as the manager of the Red Sox. This writer would very much like to take a look inside what Terry Francona has done to make his team so good. You do not go on a winning streak of this length by accident. You go on a winning streak like this with a combination of luck, skill, and smart managing.
Terry has been resilient
Terry has not been in the best health, and he has given his team a lot of trust and responsibility. Players for the Indians seem to have taken total ownership of the ball club, and they are handling this winning streak as if it is easy. They have won so many of these games without any real fanfare, and the Indians have shown us that they are the team to beat in the postseason. Terry has been able to conserve his energy because his team does so much of the work for him.
Bringing back Andrew Miller
Andrew Miller will come back to the Indians very soon to give them a pitching boost, and the most amazing part of this streak is that the Indians have been without Miller. They relied on him a lot to keep other teams in check, and he has not been there.
It appears that Terry gave the guys a speech about stepping up and making sure that they covered for anyone that was injured. The Indians will get Miller back at exactly the right time, and they will have a lot of fun playing with such a brilliant pitcher back in action. They can turn to Miller when most necessary, and he gives them confidence that they can just throw him in there at any time.
Adding Jay Bruce
Jay Bruce has proven to be a great addition for the Indians because he adds power to their lineup. This may be the right place for Bruce to be because he has been a clutch player for Cleveland. There are fans of the Reds who are likely surprised at how well Bruce is playing, but he is probably given a lot of confidence because Terry allows him to swing for the fences.
We are watching a lot of guys in the Major Leagues strikeout or hit home runs with very little base hitting in between, and that is the kind of guy Jay Bruce is. He fits in in Cleveland, and he could be the one that hits critical home runs for Cleveland going forward.
Will the Indians lose?
This writer believes that Terry is secretly hoping that his team will lose at some point. It would be dangerous to go into the playoffs having won so many games in a row, and that pivotal loss could come at the wrong time. The Indians need to get that loss out of their system soon, but fans can congratulate the Indians and Terry Francona for playing masterfully. Francona will easily out-manage anyone he faces in the postseason.
