Cleveland Indians: Fighting near the top in ESPN power rankings

Even after a rough start the Cleveland Indians remain near the top of the league when it comes to ESPN’s MLB power rankings.

This week hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts for the Cleveland Indians.

Yet the team remains among the best in all of baseball. Two losses doesn’t change that.

The Indians began the week ranked fifth overall in Major League Baseball in ESPN’s MLB power rankings. That is one spot behind the Minnesota Twins and one spot ahead of the Oakland Athletics.

Cut to today and the Indians still own the sixth-best record in all of baseball. The surging Atlanta Braves are now up in that fifth spot.

Wednesday’s loss was concerning. Brad Hand let a win slip through his hands and now the team is three games back of the Minnesota Twins.

But that deficit is nothing to panic about. The Indians and Twins still have two series against each other this season. The Indians could also go on a big streak with series against the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers coming up. Hope should not be lost.

The fact remains that the Indians are still among the best teams in all of baseball. The problem is that a lot of those teams reside in the American League. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves are the only National League teams with 70 or more wins. After that it is wide open.

That is not the case in the more top-heavy AL, where six teams have at least 73 wins. It is entirely possible a 95-win team doesn’t even make the Wild Card Game.

The Indians have plenty to clean up to avoid such a fate. The bullpen is one of the main concerns, obviously. A lack of offense forcing the bullpen to face so much pressure is another.

The week has started on a rough note but it has only been two games. There is plenty of time to salvage the week and remain high in the power rankings.