Atlanta Braves at New York Mets

With a steady rain soaking Citi Field in the fifth inning of a 14-3 win over the Braves on Monday, cleanup hitter Luis Robert Jr. stepped to the plate and pulled a two-strike, 111.7 mph single into left field. Robert now has four of the 12 hardest-hit balls by any Met this season. Consider it the latest notable data point of his Trade Deadline showcase. Ask Robert, and he’ll say that Queens is where he wants to be. The idea of moving to a contender doesn’t appeal to him. After multiple years of being dogged by trade talks on the South Side of Chicago, Robert finally moved to the Mets in a January deal for Luisangel Acuña and a low-level pitching prospect. He considered it a smooth transition, “because I knew a lot of people that were here, and they received me with open arms.” Robert, who turns 29 on Trade Deadline day (Aug. 3), doesn’t want to have to start over again. “To be honest, I’d like to stay here,” Robert said through an interpreter. “I don’t like those types of moves or trades that just happen in the middle of the season and you have to move around fast. But at the end of the day, that’s out of my control. That’s out of my hands. The people making those decisions, they’re the ones that have to make those decisions, and I have to accept it, whether it happens or not.” As recently as a month ago, it seemed unlikely that Robert would draw much interest at the Deadline. His season -- which began promisingly with two hits on Opening Day, a home run two days later and an .922 OPS through his first 12 games -- had been on a downward trajectory since mid-April. From April 13-26, Robert hit .132 with a .365 OPS. He subsequently went on the injured list with a lumbar spine herniation and didn’t restart baseball activities until the latter half of June. At multiple points, Mets officials found themselves answering questions about Robert’s ability to return at all this season.