Cleveland Indians open 2018 near the top of ESPN power rankings

Some Cleveland Indians fans may already be frustrated but it is still very early and the team enters the year as one of the top teams in baseball.

It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day madness of the MLB regular season. The Cleveland Indians are fresh off a 11-2 beatdown by the Los Angeles Angels, one day after an easy 6-0 victory over that same Angels team.

The important thing to remember is that after both results, the Indians still remain one of the elite teams in baseball.

That is reflected in ESPN’s initial power rankings for the 2018 season, where the Indians slot in at No. 4 overall behind the New York Yankees (No. 3), Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 2), and Houston Astros (No. 1).

Some fans may already be panicking about this year’s squad, but that is just foolish. The Indians have the chance to return home with a 3-3 record, the same record the team had in 2017 at the time of the home opener.

What this ranking shows is that the Indians are highly regarded outside of Cleveland, which makes perfect sense after two straight postseason appearances and a roster that is only going to get better with more experience.

Even if the Indians hover around the .500 mark for the first half of the season, I expect them to remain somewhere in the top eight of the rankings. The only way the Indians fall is if there are a bunch of surprise teams around the league, or if they really do have a down year. But it is way too early to worry about that.

Next: 3 takeaways from the blowout loss to the Angels

So what do you think of this ranking. Is No. 4 overall too high? Or perhaps just right?