Back from the IL, Robles hopes to find his swing again

After missing 33 games, Victor Robles finally returned to the Nationals lineup last night.

Before the series opener against the Marlins, a 6-5 loss, the Nationals returned Robles from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 10-day injured list while optioning Alex Call down to Triple-A Rochester. Robles had been on the IL since May 8 with what the team originally called back spasms.

But it turned out to be a slightly more serious back injury that kept him sidelined for over a month.

“When I first hit the injured list, the biggest thing I was very frustrated,” Robles said via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “Frustrated with the fact that I wasn't able to swing. I felt like my back was real tight and it made me immobile a little bit. But with the hard work of our trainers here, they've done a great job of trying to get me back on the field. And I still feel it a little bit running, but overall I feel good swinging the bat.”

He had no problem swinging the bat before the injury, hitting .292 with four doubles, a triple, eight RBIs, 10 walks, 13 runs and eight stolen bases in 31 games to start the season. And he picked up right where he left off when he was finally able to start a rehab assignment with Rochester, reaching base in all four games and going 4-for-7 (.571) with a double, two home runs, five RBIs, a walk and five runs scored in his final two outings with the Red Wings.

“Keep following my game plan,” he said. “Stay on that plan and keep doing it, keep working at it. I think that's what's led to the success early on, and just stay with the same focus, same plan and keep going.”

In his return to the Nationals, Robles started in center field and batted eighth. He finished the night 1-for-4, slapping a single in the sixth inning to knock Marlins starter and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara from the game.

“In all honesty, I felt the game was a little quicker,” he said. “I was seeing the ball and feeling good at the plate, but I felt like it was a little quicker today on me.”

“It was good. It was good to see him out there playing again,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He stayed on a ball, he drove the ball to right field there. But it was good just to have him back out there.”

The skipper said in this pregame press conference the Nats are still going to keep a close eye on their center fielder as he gets re-adjusted to the major league level. He spent so much time on the IL, the last thing they want is a setback now that he’s been activated.

But Robles insists he’s full-go, even with the aforementioned feeling while running.

“I try not to think about what I had or what I felt or my injury in general,” the 26-year-old said. “I just leave it up to God and put it in his hands to bless me, and try to go out there and give my best effort and help the team any way I can to win.”

The best way to do that is to find his swing from April again, which he is confident he can do in time.

“Just like I said earlier, stay on the same game plan,” Robles said. “Keep working, keep doing what I was doing. I know I missed a month, a month and a half, and there's gonna be some adjustments to do. But if I stay with the same plan I had before and keep working, I think it'll just come.”