Cleveland Guardians soar up latest MLB Power rankings during hot stretch

Cleveland sat 15 games out of first place in July and has fought back to the top of the American League. But the Guardians' recent success has the national media buying into them.

Sep 5, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

If the MLB playoff system reflected collegiate football, the Cleveland Guardians would be dancing.

With a 156 game sample size as the judge, the Guardians are ranked #9 by mlb.com writers. Want more to write home about? The Guardians are ranked ahead of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers, No.10 in the power rankings, visit Cleveland this week with the AL Central crown on the line.

Detroit, once leaders of the Central by 15.5 games, have let their lead dwindle down to one game. On July 7th when mlb.com release their power rankings, the Tigers watched fireworks as baseball’s No. 1 team. All the way down at No. 22? The Cleveland Guardians, who would not watch their all star closer Emmanuel Clase get placed on paid leave for another three weeks.

Whether Cleveland reaches the playoffs or not, the club proved over the last two months that they’re in a great spot for the future. 

The Toronto Blue Jays (No. 4), Seattle Mariners (#6), New York Yankees (No. 7) and Boston Red Sox (No. 8) are the lone American League teams ahead of Cleveland in the rankings. All seven (Detroit, Houston) of the teams competing for AL playoff spots are idle Monday night. 

While power rankings are good benchmarks, the season comes down to wins and losses over the next six days. Skeptics point to the Guardians rough record against teams over .500 (37-46) and negative run differential as caution signs entering the season’s final week, but Cleveland could not have repositioned themselves better after the season’s pedestrian first four months.

While the Guardians do catch two teams above .500 this week to end the season, could you pick a better two teams in the sport over .500 to play? The Guardians have won 6-of-10 matchups against the Tigers this season including last week’s sweep. The Texas Rangers are somehow worse against teams over .500 than the Guardians. For the run differentials folks? Cleveland has beaten the Tigers by multiple runs in each victory this season.

Cleveland begins their series with Detroit on Tuesday night. Gavin Williams takes the bump opposite the American League’s best pitcher, Tarik Skubal.

Cleveland baseball legend Carlos Baerga held back no punches talking about the matchup.

”We’ve beaten this guy before,” Baerga said about facing Skubal on The Carlos Baerga Show on the BIGPLAY Sports Network. “We can do it again.”

"We've beaten this guy before, we can do it again." #GuardsBall@BaergaCarlos isn't scared of the Guardians going up against Tarik Skubal.

presented by @BathroomsUSA https://t.co/FvdEQxhkl2 pic.twitter.com/xqmjjlodnn

— Carlos Baerga Show (@BaergaShow) September 22, 2025

If anyone knows something about beating star southpaws in crucial games, it’s Baerga.