CLEVELAND — Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona is not expected to manage the team during the weekend series with the Detroit Tigers for health reasons, according to team president Chris Antonetti.
Francona, 61, underwent a scheduled medical procedure at the Cleveland Clinic Friday and isn’t expected to return this weekend, Antonetti said.
Throughout this season, Francona has missed 11 games with health issues, which the team described as a gastrointestinal condition earlier this month.
“Tito said it the other day—he wants to do his best to try to manage as much as possible. We don’t know exactly how likely that is. We continue to encourage him and try to remind him every step of the way that the most important thing is his health and well-being,” Antonetti said. “We will continue to prioritize those and if that means there will have to be days away from the ballpark, then that’s what we’ll need to do and we’ll continue to do what we always do, which is come together and figure out how to work through things when he’s not here.”
While Francona is away, first base coach Sandy Alomar will continue managing the team.
Alomar said that although he’s been filling in as the team’s manager throughout Francona’s illness, it’s only temporary.
“This is his team,” Alomar said. “I can’t wait for him to come back myself. I know as a group we’ve done a good job, but at the end of day, this is Terry Francona’s team.”
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