Cleveland Indians up to No. 9 in ESPN’s MLB power rankings

The Cleveland Indians had an amazing weekend in Houston and have moved up to No. 9 in ESPN’s MLB power rankings as a result.

The Cleveland Indians may have been worrying fans, but that changed this past weekend.

The Indians rattled off a sweep of the Houston Astros, thanks to a combination of great pitching and great offense. The resurgence of Yan Gomes stands out as the main storyline on the offensive side.

The sweep was nice, but it was not enough to make too much of a dent in ESPN’s MLB power rankings, as the Indians moved up just one spot from last week to the No. 9 spot.

From the article:

"Maybe a three-game sweep in Houston can jump-start an Indians team that has mostly treaded water thanks to an offense that has struggled to put runs on the board. Edwin Encarnacion continues to hover around the Mendoza line, and Jason Kipnis is struggling at the plate. In the rotation, Corey Kluber is still on the DL, while Carlos Carrasco was forced to leave his previous start with a pectoral injury, but he’s on track to make his next on May 23. Mike Clevinger has been great as a substitute so far, but the Indians need their stars to step up. — Michael Bonzagni, ESPN Stats & Information"

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While the sweep was a great sign, fans are still waiting for the big names to step up, as explained in the article.

The starting pitching was solid over the weekend, but that isn’t enough to blindly say the group is back to being elite. It will take several weeks of sustained success for that to be true.

There is also the consistent concern surrounding Edwin Encarnacion, but someone like Gomes stepping up helps ease the focus on the slugger. However, he cannot continue to hover around the .200 mark throughout the summer.

If he does, he may continue to slide down the order, but don’t expect him to be removed from the lineup entirely.

Next: 3 takeaways from the sweep in Houston

The concerns will remain, but they can continue to be lessened with more series like the one seen over the weekend.