Sometimes all you need is a little rest and relaxation.
Such was apparently the case for several MLB stars on Tuesday evening, when something of a trend emerged—three different sluggers all hit home runs in their first games back in the lineup.
The action started with Bryce Harper, who while never officially going to the Injured List, had missed several games for the Philadelphia Phillies since taking a pitch to the elbow last week.
Stepping up to the plate against the Toronto Blue Jays, Harper sent one of the first pitches he saw out of the park.
Elbow Guard Bryce 😤
— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2025
Bryce Harper homers in first game since last Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/OMxNQ21RUO
Next up was Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees, who went yard in his first game back from the IL against Cleveland. He had been dealing with a strained right oblique.
Welcome back, Jazz Chisholm Jr.!
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2025
Jazz gives the @Yankees the lead in his first game off the IL. pic.twitter.com/huIZ2QjxNb
And rounding out the night was Colton Cowser of the Baltimore Orioles, who, you guessed it, hit a home run in his first game back at the plate.
Colton Cowser returns from the IL with some fresh milk 😤 pic.twitter.com/Oqv4lJR7TH
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2025
Now I am willing to concede that there’s a chance this happens more often than we realize and it was just a weird bit of synchronicity that all three of these instances came across my timeline during a shift of night-blogging. Baseball players are going on and coming off of the IL all the time, and when they aren’t on the IL, many are hitting dingers. It’s a big part of the job.
That said, it certainly felt like something was in the water on Tuesday night, as every time we finished a story on one man hitting a home run in his return, it was time to start another.
Somehow, “player back from injury hits dinger” was not the only oddly specific play trending in the baseball world on Tuesday night, as we saw not one, but two game-ending home run robberies—one from the Colorado Rockies, and another from the Cincinnati Reds.
You know how sometimes once you notice a certain kind of car on the road, you can’t stop noticing that kind of car on the road? It’s just one of those ways that our brains work. Tuesday night was like that, except for baseball.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as A Bunch of Baseball Players Returned From Injury to Hit Dingers on Tuesday.
