Cleveland Indians at No. 8 spot in FanSided MLB power rankings

The Cleveland Indians entered the weekend after a great series against Oakland which led to a jump in FanSided’s MLB power rankings.

Cleveland Indians fans saw some exciting baseball to start the week, but things haven’t been as nice over the weekend.

The Indians have dropped the first two games to the Kansas City Royals after taking three of four from the Oakland Athletics earlier this week.

The start to the week was a bright spot that saw the Indians jump up to the No. 8 spot in the most recent edition of FanSided’s MLB power rankings, which came out before the start of this current series.

From the article:

"There is no more puzzling pitcher in baseball than Danny Salazar. Armed with some of the most dominant put-away stuff in the game, Salazar is averaging 12.6 strikeouts per nine on the year. His inability to locate, however, has led to an ugly 5.50 ERA, 1.9 HR/9, and even uglier 4.8 BB/9. Salazar will be going to the bullpen when ace Corey Kluber comes off the DL. That may or may not be the best place for him to battle his control issues."

Fans got a glimpse of Salazar out of the bullpen on Saturday when he provided 1.2 innings of work, giving up just one run in a 12-5 blowout. He also provided an inning of work on Thursday after an amazing return by Corey Kluber.

It may be an odd sight to see Salazar demoted this early in the year, but hopefully it helps him find his command and turn things around.

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He will be needed because even though it may seem like the team is struggling, the Indians are still only one game behind the Twins in the AL Central. And with off days this upcoming Monday and Friday, there is plenty of time to refocus and start pulling away in the division.