MLB Power Rankings: Easy street for the Astros, a tough road for Phillies
By Tim Boyle
8) MLB Power Rankings: Cleveland Guardians
This year’s Cleveland Guardians team isn’t just a pushover that managed to win the American League Central from four other clubs that seemed to have no interest working in October. They’ve actually pieced together a solid record for themselves and have a shot to finish with more wins than each of the wild card clubs.
Still, despite having the No. 3 seed in their league, it’s hard to buy into the Guardians fully. Much better Cleveland baseball clubs have made it to the postseason in recent years only to come up short. How will this year’s club perform with far less offense?
Jose Ramirez won’t be in the MVP conversation because of what Aaron Judge has done and the amazing talents of Shohei Ohtani. He did, though, carry a playoff team with yet another awesome performance. Cleveland should be everyone’s pick for the most obvious first-round upset in this year’s MLB playoffs.
7) MLB Power Rankings: Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays had a unique home field advantage this year due to required vaccinations to enter the country. In the playoffs, it won’t be a factor. Nonetheless, Toronto should hope to at least host their wild card round matchup. This means taking the top seed and playing either the Mariners or Rays.
Toronto’s problem this year has been getting in their own way at times. They don’t have an overly impressive rotation. Alek Manoah has been superb but lacks the experience teams want to see in the playoffs. It’s really the biggest problem with the Blue Jays. They might just be too young in comparison to other clubs.
October will be a time for more seasoned veterans like George Springer to step up. The Blue Jays might feel like a bit of a disappointment because they were never really competing for a division crown. They can finish strong and have us all forget they settled for a wild card berth.