Ryan Braun keeps sense of humor

RyanBraun
Ryan Braun didn't let his second fruitless day at the plate this spring affect his sense of humor.

After striking out and fouling out Tuesday in an exhibition game against Oakland, Braun said, "I can only head in one direction from here. The overwhelming odds are that I'm going to put one in fair territory one of these days."

In his first two spring games, Braun is 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. While it might seem that Braun is out of whack after his tumultuous winter, including his appeal of a positive drug test and exoneration, he said that's not the case.

"I feel good; my timing and rhythm is starting to come," he said. "The goal is just to see some different pitches; see different pitchers and try to see the ball and find timing and rhythm.

"I think I'm seeing the ball really well. I think timing and rhythm are the two biggest things. For all hitters, early on, it's just finding your timing, trying to see the ball out of the timing and rhythm."

Asked if his offseason preparation was impacted by the drug testing turmoil, Braun said, "I don't think anything was really impacted."

Braun isn't the only Brewers regular off to a slow start. Through the first three games, only catcher Jonathan Lucroy and Carlos Gomez are swinging the bat well but Braun said that will change with more at-bats.

"For the most part, pitching is normally ahead of hitting in spring training," he said. "They've been here a little longer; they've been throwing bullpens. For us, this is the first time we've seen live pitching in a couple of months."

Manager Ron Roenicke said he will let Braun determine the number of at-bats he wants this spring, going at his own pace. Braun said he didn't need a ton of action to get ready.

"That's the plan for at least the first week or two,' he said. "It's a long spring training this year. We have five more days than we had last year. The goal is to get your work in and to build towards the regular season but not exhaust yourself before the season starts.

"I don't really need a lot of at-bats. Normally, if I get 30 to 40 at-bats, I don't really need too many more than that. Every year is a little bit different. Sometimes I feel locked in sooner than later. Other years, I need more at-bats.

"He trusts all of us. As veteran guys, we appreciate that. As a manager, he has enough trust in us to allow us to dictate our schedule and how many at-bats we want and how many innings we play. The goal is getting in shape for the start of the season."


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(jsonline.com)
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