Terry Francona loves his veterans. His teams average 19th in batter age, and two-thirds of Tito’s teams have ranked in the older 50 percent of the league. Of course, he has good reason to trust his veterans: his two World Series championship teams had an average batter age of 30.1 and 30.4 years — there’s method to his madness.
Though only 24 years old, Francisco Lindor is a seasoned veteran, having helped lead the Indians to a World Series berth and a record-setting 22-game win streak. So, when he expressed his desire to hit leadoff this year, Tito had to listen.