Indians Manager Terry Francona Won't Be Back for the White Sox Series

With the Indians getting closer to making it official that they will play in the postseason, it will be minus manager Terry Francona. 

Francona will not return to the dugout for the Indians four-game set starting Monday night against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field according to Cleveland.com's Paul Hoynes.

It's been a tough season for the 61-year-old Tribe manager, who has missed a good number of games in 2020 due to a gastrointestinal issue. 

The last time with the team was back on August 21st, and after he left the team Francona had a surgery at the Cleveland Clinic that he is still recovering from.

The operation was related to a blood-clot issue. Team president Chris Antonetti said two weeks ago that the surgery took care of the blood-clot issue, but that he is still making a full recovery. 

"The good news is he is feeling better," Antonetti said back on September 4th. 

"He still is recovering, so it will still be a little while before he rejoins us, but I was real encouraged by the way he looked today and I know he said he's feeling better, which is all great news.

"But he has been through a lot and he's in the middle of a recovery, so I still expect it will be some time before he rejoins us."

Without Francona the Tribe has gone 21-18 with Sandy Alomar Jr. as the team's acting manager.

The Indians can earn a playoff spot with a win over Chicago Monday night along with the Houston Astros defeating the Seattle Mariners later on Monday night.

It's not known if Francona will be well enough to be back this weekend when the Indians wrap up the 2020 regular season against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field.