CLEVELAND -- When you have the youngest roster in the Majors, there will be plenty of growing pains throughout a 162-game season. Only one month in, the Indians have already experienced a handful of peaks and valleys, and they have been in desperate need of some leadership.

Enter Franmil Reyes and José Ramírez.

There was never a doubt that Reyes and Ramírez would be two of the biggest keys to the Indians’ offense this season, but over the last three games, the duo has proven just how much of an impact it can have for this club. With a solo homer by Ramírez in the first, a game-tying monster shot by Reyes in the second and a go-ahead blast by Reyes in the sixth, the two sluggers led the Indians to their third straight win with a 7-4 victory over the Twins on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

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“He has the ability to kind of put us on his shoulders,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of Reyes, “because they're not just going to be singles. So it's really helpful.”

The fact that the Indians boast the youngest 26-man roster (an average age of 26.5 years old) in the Majors is no exaggeration. Reyes may only be 25 and Ramírez is only 28, but the two are going to be the leaders of this offense in 2021, and they’ve already established it.

Reyes pulled the Indians out of their four-game losing streak on Sunday with a go-ahead homer and a triple. Ramírez tied the game on Monday night with a long ball of his own. As often as the club has relied on the long ball -- 54.3 percent of its runs entering Tuesday have been scored via homers, which was the most in the Majors -- Cleveland has gone 9-6 in games in which it homered. But in games that Reyes or Ramírez hit a homer, the Indians have gone 9-0 (it wasn’t until Tuesday that they hit a homer in the same game this year).

But that’s just the beginning. Ramírez has been a constant force in the lineup since he busted out of a nearly year-long slump in June 2019. Over his last 162 games, which dates back to May 22, 2019, Ramírez has hit .287 with a .943 OPS, 42 homers, 45 doubles and five triples, and he has stolen 26 bases out of 31 attempts.

“Honestly, his energy that he transfers to the other guys is unbelievable,” Reyes said. “When he’s in the dugout like firing up everybody, it’s really good. I love it.”

Reyes can get just as cold as he does hot, but when he’s making quality contact, he’s the most dangerous hitter in Cleveland’s lineup, which he proved in his scorching August last season. Through the Indians’ first 22 games in 2021, Reyes leads the team in nearly every offensive category, including average (.308), homers (seven), RBIs (17), runs scored (13), on-base percentage (.337), slugging percentage (.679), OPS (1.1017), hits (24) and, shockingly, triples (two).

If that production wasn’t enough, Reyes also brings an extra level of excitement with his tremendous power. His first long ball of the night was a 452-foot bomb to deep left field that came just five rows shy of Progressive Field’s scoreboard. The distance was tied for the sixth-longest homer of his career, and he became the first Indians player to record multiple homers with an exit velocity over 110.0 mph (both were 111.3 mph) in the same game during the Statcast era (since 2015).

“He's got some of the [best] power I've ever seen, man,” said reliever James Karinchak, who picked up his second save of the season. “And it's loud when he hits it. It's exciting in the bullpen.”

The Indians were prepared for the highs and lows that would come with an inexperienced roster. And as much as Ramírez and Reyes want to be the guys who keep the offense on track day in and day out, it won’t always be possible. But one thing Reyes said he’s determined to do is make sure that the team never gets down when it inevitably hits a skid.

“That was like my primary thing that I took to the season,” Reyes said. “Never put my head down, never let my teammates put their heads down, no matter how the game is. We’re all gonna be supporting each other. … You see everybody’s fighting. That’s something I hope -- and that I’ll make sure -- we keep doing the entire year.”