Carlos Gomez has built his reputation on speed.
Always a threat to steal a base, Gomez hadn't been the same since injuring his right hamstring rounding first base at the beginning of May. That lack of speed had made him apprehensive at times since coming off the disabled list. Tentative at the plate and on the basepaths, Gomez had managed just three hits in 19 at-bats. He wasn't himself.
But on Thursday against the Dodgers— the Brewers' third-straight win — Gomez emphatically proved that he might finally be back to the impressive level he started the season at.
In April, Gomez was batting .318 with an OPS of .893, one of the highest on the team. But after injuring himself rounding the bases in San Francisco, Gomez's tough May seemed to be building to a night like Wednesday.
He tallied four hits — a career high — and led the charge in the bottom half of the Brewers order, while knocking in two clutch RBI that put the game away—a performance the Brewers sorely needed after their best clutch hitter this season, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, was lost from the lineup for six weeks.
Gomez admitted that he had been trying too hard at times since returning to the lineup. But against the Dodgers, he said he felt the best he had since his injury, and as a result, everything seemed to come easy to the Brewers center fielder.
"The last few days," Gomez said, "I've been hitting the ball real consistent."
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said the difference in Gomez's performance on Wednesday was palpable. He simply looked more like himself at the plate.
"I think Carlos especially, this was how he was swinging before he got hurt," Roenicke said. "We hadn't been seeing that so far. It's good to get him back."
Still, there are signs Gomez isn't all the way back. As he slammed a double off of Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen late, a Bobby Abreu throw held him at second base, even though it was clear Gomez wanted the triple.
Gomez isn't fully comfortable with his hamstring just yet. But with four hits in one game, his bat more than made up for a lack of speed against the Dodgers, and if that means he'll be healthier tomorrow and a little closer to being himself on the basepaths, Gomez approves.
"I'm not trying to rush too much now," Gomez said. "I'm taking it base by base. I don't want to take a step back."
Follow Ryan Kartje on Twitter.
