Robinson Cano played in his first rehab game with the Brooklyn Cyclones after tearing his hamstring in early August and said that he expects to play one more game on Monday with them before rejoining the Mets in Washington D.C. against the Nationals.
Cano, 36, played seven innings at second base on Saturday and went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, one RBI, and one run scored. He grounded out in his other two at-bats.
Robinson Cano doubles in his third and possibly final at-bat. If so, he finished 1-for-3 on the day #Mets #Cyclones pic.twitter.com/sO7d2pcV8I
— Josh Finkelstein (@JoshFink313) August 31, 2019
Robinson Cano comes up a fourth time and knocks in a run with an RBI single. He was immediately pinch-ran for after the hit. Cano finishes the game 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, and run scored. Seven innings at second base for him tonight #Mets #Cyclones pic.twitter.com/prB1dSSRCf
— Josh Finkelstein (@JoshFink313) September 1, 2019
“I feel 100% running and this is the first time I’ve seen pitching since [getting hurt] and I think it was good for me because I wasn’t chasing anything and I was able to put up some good swings.”
In his first year with the Mets, Cano has struggled as he was hitting .252/.295/.415 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI before going down. That gives him a -0.2 bWAR and 88 OPS+ on the year.
However, the left-handed hitter was playing much better after the All-Star break, hitting .289/.318/.578 with six homers and 14 RBI in 21 games.
Cano was especially hot in the only four games he played with the Mets in the month of August, as he went 9-for-15 with a homer, four doubles, and three RBI. In fact, he went 3-for-3 with two doubles in the game he tore his hamstring in.
When he went down, Cano wasn’t sure where the team would be upon his return if he were to at all in 2019. But, with the team four games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL Wild Card spot, he’s excited to return for the last month of the season.
“You got to give credit to the guys for being able to grind every day and give it everything they got with good at-bats and pitching to keep the team in the race,” Cano said. “I’m excited and I feel good today and hopefully, that continues and I’m excited to come back and help the team win.”
“I’m a positive guy so for me even if I’m 10 games down, I never would quite on myself until they say you’re out. This is the game of baseball. Sometimes you’re in first place and then other times you end up losing everything,” Cano added. “You never know what can happen so we have to think we can compete with anyone. We have one of the best pitching staffs and I’m just so excited to go back.”
