Indians notes: Francona likes what he sees from Amed Rosario in center field

Manager Terry Francona thinks the progression of Amed Rosario in center field has gone more than smoothly. One of the biggest signs that Rosario has adapted well to his new position, according to Francona? "His jumps have been phenomenal," Francona said of Rosario, who is playing center field for the first time in his career. "I don't care if you're talking about a guy that's been out there for four or five years or a guy that's been out there four or five weeks. His jumps have been phenomenal. He works really hard at it with (outfield coach Kyle Hudson). "The balls that are kinda right at ya, where you have to freeze, maybe not take a step back. When you look up, he looks like he's already moving, and it's been really good." It was hard for Francona to find a flaw with Rosario, who began his career as a shortstop in the Mets organization in 2013 before switching to center this spring. "He hasn't gotten tested too much on the throwing and he still kind of throws it like an infielder, but that's kind of nit-picking," Francona said. "How many times do you see outfielders, especially the center fielder, really throw guys out anymore anyway?" Rosario's impressive jumps were on display Friday night in a 5-3 loss to the Yankees at Progressive Field. "I thought he was terrific (Friday) night and I think it's been that way," Francona said. "One of our worries was going back on a ball, because it's not natural. Hitters are stronger and so getting behind the ball is not the easiest thing to do, but he's done a really good job of that, too. It's been fun to watch his progression." Let 'em in Media interaction with Francona and players has been limited to Zoom sessions, with no sign that it's going to change any time soon. Francona was asked if he thought clubhouse access for the media was important. "Yeah, I actually do. To what extent and what times, that can be debated, I understand that," he said. "I think everybody in the game is missing the face-to-face interpersonal … I'm sure (reporters) feel the same way. I liked it better when we'd sit in that (interview room) and you could ask questions and then we could talk about basketball or whatever. It just seemed more personal than it does now, and I miss that." Exit velocity Beyond how hard the ball is hit, exit velocity doesn't tell you much, according to Francona. "That what is tells you," joked Francona, who is an old-school manager accepting of a handful of analytics. "There's so much more to it. A guy like (the Yankees' Giancarlo) Stanton or (the Rangers' Joey) Gallo or (the Yankees' Aaron) Judge -- those guys are always going to have the highest (exit velocity), but it doesn't necessarily mean you're the most complete hitter. "When you look at a guy like (the Yankees' DJ) LeMahieu or Jose (Ramirez), or a guy like (the Astros' Jose) Altuve, guys that use the whole field, they're going to have lower exit velocity because they put balls in play that other guys don't or they'll hit the ball the other way and take a single. (Exit velocity is) certainly not the end all, be all. I think it's probably more fun for fans." Pouncin' on Plesac When it comes to facing bad teams in his young career, right-hander Zach Plesac takes care of business. When it comes to rising to the occasion against good teams? Not so much. Over two-plus years in the majors, Plesac has posted a 10-5 record and 2.42 ERA in 18 starts against teams with a winning percentage under .500. In 15 starts against teams above .500, he is 3-6 with a 5.29 ERA. He is 8-1 with a 1.38 ERA against Kansas City and Detroit — two teams that have finished at the bottom of the Central Division standings, but only 1-5 with a 7.13 ERA against two of the division's better teams, Minnesota and Chicago. After getting off to a hot start this year — in two starts against Detroit — Plesac has faltered in his last two, allowing 12 earned runs on 14 hits over 5 2/3 innings against the White Sox. Long ball living The Indians entered Saturday ranked 14th in the American League with 23 home runs over 18 games. But they ranked 27th with 68 runs scored and dead-last (30th) with a .207 team batting average. "Thankfully, we've hit some home runs because if we were hitting .209 as a team, without home runs, we'd really be in bad shape," Francona said. "We've got some guys who haven't gotten hot yet. We've got some guys who are struggling. That's kind of the way I see it." Roundin' third The Indians entered Saturday owning the lowest batting average in the AL (.181, 23-for-127) with runners in scoring position. … Indians hitters had seen the highest percentage of change-ups (14.8) in the AL through Friday, batting .207 on the pitch. Cleveland entered Saturday hitting .216 on the 57.1 percentage of fastballs it has seen. … Sunday, 1:10, BSGL; WEOL 930-AM and 100.3-FM, WTAM 1100-AM, WMMS 100.7-FM. McKenzie (0-0, 3.55) vs. Taillon (0-1, 5.40). Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.