Cleveland Indians hold steady at No. 4 overall in ESPN power rankings

The Cleveland Indians are hot right now and rightfully remain near the top in the latest edition of ESPN’s MLB power rankings.

Some rain in New York means the Cleveland Indians are about to have two doubleheaders in three days. You won’t see me complaining about the baseball marathon.

The Indians will head into Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Yankees on a five-game winning streak at a time when the other competition in the AL Central is beginning to fade.

The division is not wrapped up just yet but this team will only continue to improve with players returning from injury. That is why the Indians remain near the top of ESPN’s MLB power rankings, coming in at No. 4 for a second straight week.

From the article:

"Corey Kluber keeps creeping closer to Chris Sale in the Cy Young conversation, having already passed Boston’s ace in WAR and ERA and trailing in wins by just one and in strikeout rate by half a K per nine. But Kluber trails in innings pitched by a lot, which is no surprise, considering that his trip to the DL puts him at a four-start disadvantage. Kluber’s career second-half ERA drops more than 20 points to 3.10; another strong finishing kick could help him grab a second Cy for his trophy case. — Christina Kahrl, ESPN.com"

It has been interesting to see the national narrative shift from Chris Sale being the sure Cy Young favorite to Corey Kluber slowly but surely taking the lead. If anything, Sale’s inability to beat the Indians could be his ultimate downfall.

The main thing holding Kluber back, as stated in the article, is the month he missed earlier this season. However, being so dominant in the time he has been healthy should be enough to win the award if he continues at this pace in September.

Next: 5 worst first-round picks in Indians history

The goal is to clinch the division as early as possible, but around September 20 seems like a fair estimate. It sure is nice to be predicting when the division will be clinched as opposed to what we were doing a few years ago.