Just a couple of weeks ago, the Cleveland Guardians looked like an unstoppable team on the rise.
Fast forward to today, and they have fallen back to earth.
That’s why, for the second week in a row, they’ve dropped in Bleacher Report’s MLB power rankings.
This time, Joel Reuter moved them from No. 13 to No. 18, which, all things considered, makes perfect sense.
“Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians fall to this tier after a 1-5 showing against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers on the road. They are now 3-10 in their last 13 games, and they have dipped below .500 for the first time since July 29 while slipping behind the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central standings,” Reuter said.
The Guardians are falling flat at the worst possible time.
They had the best record in baseball for a stretch and looked poised to not only make a run at the final AL Wild Card spot, but maybe even the AL Central title.
That’s still technically on the table, but the margin for error is close to zero.
The Guardians fared just fine without closer Emmanuel Clase, who’s likely to be unavailable for the remainder of the season because of a sports gambling investigation.
Now, their need for a well-established closer has shown up a couple of times during this tough stretch.
This isn’t the first time the Guardians have struggled to get out of a slump, and they have shown plenty of fight all season long, so it might still be too early to count them out.
Nevertheless, they need to get back on track quickly if they want to stay in the playoff race, and that will be easier said than done.
NEXT: Guardians Executive Gushes About Stephen Vogt
