Cleveland Indians: Getting Terry Francona back should spark the team

The Cleveland Indians have been searching for a spark all season, and the return of their manager may be enough to get this team going in the second half.

The Cleveland Indians entered the 2017 season with the highest expectations facing the team in two decades. And to this point, things haven’t been too bad.

The team enters the second half in first place, yet some fans are still expressing more negativity than what seems necessary when cheering on a team that appears on a clear path to win a second straight AL Central division title.

The reason for the negativity has been the inconsistent play all season. The 47-40 record does imply that there has been more success than failure, but there have been some awful stretches that more casual fans may point to as reasoning to boo some of the best players on the team.

These stretches involve the offense completely disappearing for a few games at a time, which could doom the Indians in the postseason. The most recent one came on July 4 and 5 when the team was outscored 7-2 in two losses to the San Diego Padres and the most glaring instance came June 23-25 when the Minnesota Twins took three games by the combined score of 13-2.

What the team needs is some sort of spark, such as the 14-game win streak that set the Indians apart in the division a year ago. Just something to inspire confidence and make the players expect to win every time they show up at the park. Terry Francona‘s return could provide that spark.

Terry Francona returning to his role of manager Friday night is not going to be a WWE-esque return where all hope is lost for opposing teams. But it could help the team focus and make them want to win for their coach that much more.

Francona’s return also comes at a time when the Indians are set to take on two of the worst teams in baseball out in the Bay Area, and happens to follow an All-Star Game in which the Indians sent five players and en entire coaching staff. The team is also in first place and that light at the end of the tunnel has reappeared as the postseason gets closer with each passing day.

Bad baseball teams can’t simply turn things around at any moment, but the Indians are a great team that can. Much of the success this season has come with great players like Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, Yan Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion not playing to their full potential, but a much-needed break along with the success in Miami could help this team regain its focus.

Next: Indians shine in All-Star Game

A lot of talk has been about this team lacking the type of leadership Mike Napoli provided last year, but it’s hard to believe this team lacks veteran leaders. It comes down to execution and bouncing out of cold streaks. Terry Francona is not an actual wizard, but making the focus of the rest of the season about playing for him could get this team going on a path that leads to another hangover game in September.