Cleveland Indians: Small rise in final power rankings before October

The Cleveland Indians already have a better record in 2019 than the 2018 team. Unfortunately, it will still take several more wins to reach October.

The 2018 Cleveland Indians coasted to the postseason. The 2019 Indians are on a more difficult path.

The American League Central is set to be won by the Minnesota Twins, barring an unexpected collapse. That leaves the Indians fighting for one of the two available Wild Card spots.

92 wins won’t cut it this year. I would guess the Indians need at least 96 to have a shot to overtake the Tampa Bay Rays and get the second Wild Card spot. It may take 97 or a perfect 98 to jump the Oakland A’s.

ESPN’s latest MLB power rankings reflect where the Indians stand at this point in time. The Tribe come in No. 9 overall, while the Rays are up at No. 7 and the A’s are at No. 5. For anyone holding out hope of the Indians overtaking the Twins, Minnesota is ranked No. 6.

There will be a final set of power rankings out next week after the conclusion of the regular season but all that will matter is if the Indians are in the playoffs or not. Being ranked as one of the top ten teams in baseball is irrelevant if you are not of the ten teams in the postseason.

A three-game series against the Chicago White Sox should be an easy sweep for the Indians. Should is the key word there for a team that sometimes has trouble in clutch moments. Jumping out to an early lead in every game allows fans to scoreboard watch, which is even more stressful than watching the Indians.

There is a lot to keep track of from now until Sunday night. Hopefully next week brings a higher ranking for the Indians and a home playoff game.