Luis Robert Jr. wasted little time making his return matter Tuesday night, launching a 451-foot homer that gave the Mets their final run in a 4-0 victory over the Brewers. It was only his second game back after being removed from the injured list, and it was the kind of swing that changes a box score in one breath.
The shot mattered for more than the run it added. Statcast said it was the fifth longest homer of Robert's career and the longest of his three this season, a sign that the power was there even as he was still trying to find the timing that had been missing after 2 1/2 months away. He had been sidelined since April 27 with lumbar spinal disc herniation, a layoff that can leave a hitter with strength but not always rhythm.
Robert said through an interpreter that in his first two at-bats on Monday and Tuesday, he was simply trying to settle into that rhythm. The homer suggested he is getting there fast, but not all at once. That is the part of a comeback that box scores do not always show: one swing can look finished while the hitter is still searching for the rest of it.
He was in center field with A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge, an arrangement that made the game feel lighter on the grass behind him. Robert called it a beautiful thing because none of the outfielders had to cover much ground and said it was a lot of fun because any of them could get to those balls at any moment. Benge did more than share the field. He went 2-for-5 with two RBIs on Tuesday after entering the month with an.809 OPS in July, following a.750 OPS in June and an.801 OPS in May.
Benge's numbers show the same kind of adjustment Robert is chasing, only in a different stage. Andy Green said Benge is wired to handle the ups and downs of the big leagues and that he just shows up and plays baseball, which is the sort of line that fits a player who can move from a.498 OPS on May 2 to steady production later in the summer. The Mets have gotten the benefit of that steadiness while Robert works back into form.
Clay Holmes is expected to pitch in a minor league rehab game later this week, another reminder that the Mets are still trying to build back pieces of the roster one outing at a time. For Robert, the immediate question is not whether the power is still inside the bat. Tuesday answered that. It is how quickly the rest of his game catches up.
