Just a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like the Cleveland Guardians were falling flat.
They lost some games they could’ve won, and even though the starting rotation was trending in the right direction, the bats had cooled off.
That’s why it was so refreshing to see them bounce back in a big way with back-to-back series wins against divisional rivals.
With that in mind, Matt Snyder of CBS Sports had them as the biggest riser of the week in their latest power rankings.
They climbed six spots, all the way from No. 18 to No. 12:
“What a nice bounce-back week to win four of six in Minnesota and Detroit,” Snyder wrote.
The Guardians fell in the AL Central Division standings at one point.
They knew that even though it was still quite early in the season, they couldn’t afford to make the gap between them and the Detroit Tigers much wider.
They approached that four-game series like a playoff series, and they took three out of four from the divisional leaders.
Granted, it’s still early, and there’s a lot of baseball to be played, but losing that series would’ve sent the wrong message to the clubhouse.
Beating the Minnesota Twins and Tigers may have given this team the morale boost it needed to advance to the next level.
David Fry and Lane Thomas are about to return, and that should help with the team’s struggles at the plate.
If they continue to play the way they played last week, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see them crack the top 10 in the next power rankings.
NEXT: Bruce Drennan Says 1 Guardians Utility Player 'Earned' His Spot
