Guardians still in Top-10 in MLB Power Rankings

It was a rare down week for the Cleveland Guardians, finishing with a 2-3 record in their five games played, but that has not kept them from being considered a Top-10 team in baseball.

Sliding down two spots from last week's rank in Joel Reuter's MLB Power Rankings: Orioles, Yankees Set to Battle for No. 1, Mariners Join Top 5, are the Guardians. Ranked as the seventh overall team by Reuter, Cleveland is coming off a two-game split with the Cincinnati Reds and a series loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto. The split is somewhat acceptable, and the two games lost to Toronto are a bit more palatable, considering they had Jose Ramirez for all of one game before being placed on the paternity list. With that in mind, it is not exactly a surprise to see the Guardians lose a series to a Blue Jays club that has massively underperformed their talent level this season.

itwas Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan receivedspecialattention, as hewas identifiedas Cleveland's Star of the Week. Kwan has been on an absolute tear this season and is batting just below .400. 

He doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify for the leaderboard right now, but Steven Kwan is hitting .398/.456/.545 over 196 plate appearances this season as he continues to be one of baseball's best pure hitters.

The Guardians are about to embark on a tough 13-game stretch, which includes matchups against the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Royals. This is not necessarily going to be a "season-defining" part of their schedule, but it is hard not to imagine it having a major impact on how things play out. This is a team that has shown the ability to keep up with and beat the best, and they will have another opportunity to prove that they are indeed for real over the next two weeks.