Cleveland Indians down to No. 12 overall in ESPN power rankings

The Cleveland Indians dropped one spot in ESPN’s MLB power rankings after a week that featured a sweep and some other fireworks.

The Cleveland Indians had quite the week.

It started with a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in which the Indians outscored the baby bears by a combined total of 11-1. Then came another series with the Houston Astros.

Even after some bullpen collapses, the Indians managed to split the four-game series, capping it off with one of the best wins of the 2018 MLB season. And after facing top team after top team, the schedule starts to get much easier as he head into June.

The solid week didn’t do much in ESPN’s MLB power rankings as the Indians fell one spot down to No. 12 overall. From the article:

"While the bullpen is a shambles and four outfielders are on the DL, other Indians have stepped up to support their team’s core stars. Michael Brantley is healthy and hitting with the same authority he delivered in 2014-2015. His OPS+ in those seasons was 139, and is 143 now. And the rotation has been strengthened by rookie Adam Plutko, who contributed to a team shutout of the Cubs last week with his second quality start in two turns. — Christina Kahrl, ESPN.com"

The Cubs came in at No. 5 in these rankings with a record of 27-22, so take what you will from this list.

The Indians own the largest division lead, 3.5 games, in the American League and remain the only team above .500 in the AL Central. This week includes games against the Chicago White Sox (16-34) and the Minnesota Twins (21-27) so hopefully the Indians can rack up some easy wins.

The bullpen remains the glaring issue on this team and may continue to hold the Indians back until changes are made or everyone magically turns it around. The front office seems to be hoping for the latter right now.

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Even when it seems like nothing is going right with this team, the Indians still managed to go 4-2 last week against some top competition. The sky isn’t falling, yet, and the Indians seem poised for another great week after Sunday’s heroic comeback.