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The Brewers will give Ryan Braun a second day off on Monday as they begin a series against the Reds. Braun says that he is not sitting because of injury, but the implication is he's sitting as a sort-of mental break after starting the season off poorly.
Tonight's lineup at Cincinnati. First pitch 6:10 CT on @fswisconsin (Alternate) and WLWK 94.5 FM. pic.twitter.com/iwQLN7YvUM
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 27, 2015
Braun also sat out in Sunday's series finale against the Cardinals, a game that the Brewers won to prevent a series sweep. Gerardo Parra and Logan Schafer -- playing in right field and center field, respectively -- both went 2-4 in that game and combined for three runs scored. Those two are back in the lineup as Milwaukee goes with what's worked.
There had been high hopes for Braun in 2015 after a cryotherapy procedure over the winter to help fix an injured thumb that had plagued him the past two seasons. However, Braun has hit just .230/.277/.279 this year with 14 strikeouts in 17 games. He's hit just one home run this year.
For his part, Braun still blames the thumb for the poor start, saying the poor batting habits he got into while hurt have yet to be broken:
Braun also said he's encouraged by his BP sessions but having trouble carrying that over to games.
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 27, 2015
Braun said the battle is trying to get rid of bad muscle memory and bad habits from compensating for his thumb last year.
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 27, 2015
Meanwhile, Ron Roenicke told reporters he liked what he saw out of the lineup Sunday, leading him to continue with it.
Money quote from RR: "To just go status quo all the time wasn’t getting it done. I tried to. I tried to for a long time. It wasn’t working."
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 27, 2015
Roenicke also said that we could expect Braun and a more conventional lineup back Tuesday soooooo...I guess he's only going to try the new thing for a little bit and then go back to the status quo which wasn't getting it done.
Jimmy Nelson gets the start tonight for Milwaukee. The young righty has been outstanding so far this year, one of the few bright spots in 2015. He pitched eight innings of three hit ball against the Reds last week.