Cleveland Indians ranked No. 8 in ESPN power rankings

The Cleveland Indians had a great weekend, and continue to be considered among the best in the latest edition of ESPN’s MLB power rankings.

Cleveland Indians fans are feeling much better about the team after a weekend sweep over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Indians are still in first place with a 1.5 game lead over the Kansas City Royals, and have gotten the home record to 24-24 after being below .500 at home for much of the season.

The weekend series saw the return of Danny Salazar and the continued dominance of Corey Kluber, while Francisco Lindor got angry and hit a walk-off home run. It was a magical few days.

Bouncing back after a tough trip was great to see and leads to the Indians being ranked No. 8 in ESPN’s MLB power rankings.

From the article:

"Francisco Lindor’s walk-off blast on Saturday might have captured the headlines, but the bigger deal was Danny Salazar’s return to the rotation in that same game and throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing just one baserunner and whiffing eight with high-90s heat and high-80s changeups. If that’s what the Tribe can expect down the stretch, they might finally gain some separation from the rest of the pack in the AL Central. — Christina Kahrl, ESPN.com"

The biggest story from the weekend has to be Salazar, as his one-hit outing was something to behold. However, it would be wise to see him start one more time before denying any rotation help via a trade. A team can never have too much talent.

But if Salazar continues pitching a high level, it does take away the need to trade top prospects for a starting pitcher, as the Indians would already have four great starters if Mike Clevinger also keeps going at his current pace.

Next: 3 takeaways from sweep of the Blue Jays

This week will be an interesting one as the trade deadline approaches, but winning is what matters most and continuing to pile up the wins will keep fans happy.