CLEVELAND _ Indians manager Terry Francona underwent a cardiac ablation procedure on Thursday to correct an irregular heartbeat, the club announced.
The successful procedure was performed at the Cleveland Clinic. Per the Indians in a release, Francona is expected to make a full recovery and will be discharged within a day or two. He is expected to resume managing on Friday, July 14, when the Indians travel to Oakland following the All-Star break.
Thus far, Francona has missed four full games (the last three and June 27) and parts of two other games first due to symptoms that he reported as light headedness and an elevated heart rate and then to undergo further tests at the Cleveland Clinic to try to diagnose what was causing them.
After he had to exit the dugout on June 26, which then led to his missing the game on June 27 due to president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti's orders, Francona was given a heart monitor. The arrhythmia was detected due to the monitoring of Francona's heart over the last couple of weeks, according to the club.
The Indians have also informed Major League Baseball that he will not manage the All-Star Game in Miami on July 11.
His absence, of course, has been noticeable in the clubhouse.
"We think about him all the time," said Josh Tomlin after Thursday's game. "He's probably still got a big part of what is going on in here on a daily basis. I think he's probably not too happy in the hospital on a daily basis. We keep in contact. The guys on the team text him and we talk to him, just kind of keep him in the loop, talk to him. We need him at the helm here, there's no doubt about it. He's a huge part of our success, he knows the game, he knows the players really well, and his presence alone has that sense of calm in the dugout. We obviously want his health to be fine first before he comes back, but we're itching at the bit to get him back, no doubt about it."
Antonetti said earlier this week that no plans had been made at that time to add a member to the coaching staff. Bench coach Brad Mills has been acting as manager in Francona's absence.
The Indians will have cards for fans to sign on the concourse for Friday's game.
