Cleveland Indians: Trust in Trevor Bauer proves Terry Francona’s genius

Cleveland Indians fans were questioning Terry Francona’s decision to start Trevor Bauer in Game 1, but the decision proved to be genius.

As Trevor Bauer kept throwing hammer curveballs for strike three calls and the appreciation within Progressive Field kept growing, I thought to myself: “Why would we ever question Terry Francona?”

That question is complex, and in a year where the Indians have won 102 games, it seems rather egotistical. Who am I to question Francona when this team is clicking on all cylinders the past two months, including a 22-game win streak and a dominant Game 1 American League Division Series win.

Shouldn’t blind faith just be applied in these situations moving forward? I say that because more often than not in 2017 if you have suggested the opposite of what Francona decides, you look silly.

The problem fans have when questioning a manager’s decision is that instead of looking at, and understanding why the manager made that choice, we have a proclivity to simply see it from our perspective.

Another example: Francona bringing in Cody Allen with two on in the top of the 8th inning. Fans around me in right field, and Twitter’s slew of managers questioned bringing in Allen for a four-out situation. Why not go to Joe Smith for one quick out, and save Allen for a clean 9th inning?

Well, it’s easy when you think about it. Allen is your best remaining bullpen arm, and this is the highest leverage situation we have seen all night, so it makes perfectly logical sense. Mix that with Kluber going in Game 2 and you have an easy bullpen day. Tito knew this was a must-win game, so use your best available arms. After Allen recorded the save, we all again questioned why we ever suggest otherwise.

I think this boils down to a simple fact. Tribe faithful haven’t come to fully understand just how good this team is. We have all been exposed to the weakness each player on the roster has shown over the years, and we are expecting that revert back to those issues. We are expecting this group to fail because we have seen it, but what we aren’t understanding is that almost the entire roster is now at a point where we can consider this their apex. They have grown together, matured together, brought the best out of each other and it is clicking at the most opportune time.

It’s rare that a roster such as this one can have so many overly talented players being at their absolute best at the the same time. The Kipnis to center field decision was scrutinized, but it works because he is a veteran who is talented.

Keeping Giovanny Urshela on the roster over Yandy Diaz draws ire from the fan base, but he plays stellar defense again and roped a line drive in his second at-bat. Starting Bauer over Kluber Game 1 works because Trevor is pitching like an ace in the second half once he got his sequencing and control down.

My point here is this: The decisions that Terry Francona makes, that draw scrutiny, can’t be seen through a microscope of “good or bad” because the roster is so talented that it doesn’t matter. You can’t pull the wrong string when every string is the right one.

I’m not sure we can call Francona’a decision to start Bauer over Kluber in Game 1 “the right choice” because it was risky. You lose Game 1 (where its winner goes on to win the series 68 percent of the time) and you’re in a tough spot without necessity. Bauer had to pitch eventually, so Game 2 or 3 made logical sense too. But regardless it worked out.

It worked out because the Indians currently have three of the top ten starting pitchers in the AL. The front office deserves the majority of the praise here, regardless of the genius we think Francona ends up providing. This roster is absolutely loaded, and however tough it is to convince ourselves that the Indians are the best team in baseball, we have to believe it.

Next: Bauer shines in Game 1 victory

I think if we believe it, the less we will question and ridicule each move Francona makes.