Francisco Lindor owns Terry Francona with hand sanitizer prank

Francisco Lindor used the COVID-19 pandemic to his advantage in a prank on Terry Francona.

Cleveland baseball is in the middle of a transition. With the team name up in the air, and potential start of the regular season in flux, there’s no telling what might change by the time games are supposed to resume in late July.

Despite all of the uncertainty, Francisco Lindor remains one of the most fun-loving, constantly entertaining players in the game, and he got the best of manager Terry Francona on Monday during Cleveland’s camp. Hand sanitizer is essential to any MLB clubhouse these days, and it can be tough to come by. Tito thought his best player was doing him a favor, but in fact, it was a prank all along.

Francisco Lindor got the best of manager Terry Francona with a COVID-19 themed prank.

Rather than hand sanitizer, Lindor actually offered up the firm grip hitters typically use during batting practice and games.

Considering the value Lindor has on the open market as once of the best young infielders in all of baseball, and Cleveland’s reluctance to give him a long-term contract, the 26-year-old knows precisely what he can get away with. Francona, being a players’ manager through and through, isn’t going to take offense to this, either.  We could all use a laugh right now, especially with the MLB season threatened thanks to a lack of testing and increased caseloads around the country.

The pandemic has yet to make a tremendous impact on Cleveland’s Spring Training 2.0, but the likes of the Astros, Angels, Nationals and Athletics have all delayed their preparations for the regular season, at least until the preliminary issues can be fixed. With all the negativity surrounding what was supposed to be a productive start to the regular season, Lindor’s antics are much appreciated around baseball.