It was only one game, but Tuesday night was a great example of what kind of impact Kris Bryant can have on this Cubs team.

He collected a pair of hits, scored from first base on a double down the line with some great baserunning, played his standard solid defense at third base and helped lengthen the lineup.

But even more than the results, he just looked like the Kris Bryant of old.

David Ross agreed, saying after Tuesday night’s 8-7 win that he felt like Bryant’s swings were back to what the Cubs are used to seeing from him. The former MVP got off to a slow start to the season and then dealt with the wrist/finger issue for more than a week before hitting the IL.

“I felt great yesterday,” he said. “I was seeing the ball good. All of them I thought were great at-bats, so that’s definitely a step in the right direction. Obviously coming off of not feeling great with my wrist and finger, it gives you that confidence moving forward that if I continue to get all the treatment and stuff so this doesn’t flare up and make it hard for me to go out there and play, I’ll be back where I need to play.”

He agreed his swing looked and felt smoother in his first game back, but that comfort level goes beyond the physical realm. As he went on the IL, Bryant said it was hard for his brain to allow his body to finish swings since he was continually feeling discomfort in the wrist during follow-through.

“It’s just more of a mental thing, too, when you go up to the plate and not have to worry about swinging and feeling pain,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. That was the goal of taking the time off is to get to that point. I think we were able to accomplish that.”

Bryant felt so good after Tuesday night’s game that he fought back a little bit when Ross told him he wasn’t in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s game in Pittsburgh. The Cubs manager felt the 11-inning game was a long day for a guy coming off two weeks without real game action — Bryant was able to take at-bats and grounders in South Bend, but it wasn’t in a game-like setting.

While he was exercising caution Wednesday, Ross said he doesn’t foresee keeping Bryant out of action much over the final four weeks of the season.

“It really has a lot more to do with the length of the game and the length of the day yesterday and just the turnaround,” Ross said before Wednesday’s game. “Just trying to use my baseball instincts on this one. As long as Kris feels healthy, I’m gonna put him in there. There may be some times every once in a while where I try to read that like I do everybody else and see how they’re feeling and talk to them. But as of right now, it just is strictly on what happened last night.”

The Cubs understand how important Bryant is to this team and they want him healthy and fresh for the stretch run and into the postseason.

The Cubs woke up Wednesday morning with 98.2% odds of making the playoffs, so Ross and the organization want to take the big-picture view of Bryant’s health.

“If you look around the league and what’s going on with the players’ bodies in this unique season, I think it’s important that we take care of these guys,” Ross said.

While Bryant was on the IL, Ross tabbed Ian Happ as the new everyday leadoff hitter and kept things that way Tuesday, with Bryant hitting second.

That’s probably how it will be moving forward, Ross said, and Bryant is all for it.

“Ian’s been doing a great job and I’m looking forward to hitting behind him and doing all I can this last month to solidify our position and hopefully move forward in the playoffs,” Bryant said.

He also admitted that he’s trying hard not to get too caught up in the numbers on the scoreboard. He knows there isn’t much time left for him to improve on his .191 batting average, but instead he’s trying to focus on team success.

“If we win the whole thing, I just look at it as another season, just different circumstances,” Bryant said. “The trials and the stuff you have to go through each and every day just to get to the park — winning something at the end of the year would be very satisfying.”