Cleveland Indians have several early favorites for postseason awards

The Cleveland Indians are struggling as a whole, but two players have stood out as among some of the best in the league this season.

While Cleveland Indians fans are upset with how the team has played over the past two days, the sky is not yet falling.

Two losses to the lowly San Diego Padres while scoring a combined two runs in two games is not ideal, but the Indians have proven they are able to bounce back by going on these horrible stretches and making up for it right away.

This is not an ideal way to go through a season, but the Indians do remain in first place and have the chance to stay there with a win tonight.

While the team has been inconsistent, several players have stood out as elite. The team does have five All-Stars, but Corey Kluber and Jose Ramirez have set themselves apart as the stars of this Indians team.

The two have done so well, they showed up in a recent ESPN.com article detailing early favorites for both the AL Cy Young and MVP awards.

Starting with the Cy Young favorite, Kluber set a franchise record Tuesday by recording his fifth straight game with 10+ strikeouts, although the feat was overshadowed by the 1-0 loss to the Padres.

Kluber has struck out 74 batters in his seven starts since returning from the DL on June 1 and has allowed a total of seven earned runs in 51 innings. Add in a trip to the All-Star Game and Kluber has set himself apart as one of the elite pitchers in the AL next to Chris Sale.

Ramirez appears in the ESPN article as a sleeper pick to win the AL MVP, behind the likes of Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts and the Houston Astros’ trio of Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer.

From the article:

"In the past two seasons, Ramirez has made the jump from solid infielder to All-Star standout. Remember that this is someone who hit .219 two years ago.Since June 14, he’s on a 22-game tear in which he’s leading the majors with a .440 batting average and 1.370 OPS. His 2.3 WAR since Trout’s injury is second among position players."

The front office had faith in Ramirez and he has emerged as the star of the lineup, passing up Francisco Lindor who has been struggling since April. Fans believe he will turn things around, but Ramirez has been the success story of 2017.

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Both players must keep playing at elite levels to stay in contention for these awards, but expect some more hardware to end up in the hands of Indians players in 2017. But for fans to be happy about this, the team needs to start winning again.