A Schelling For Your Thoughts

Roenicke hasn’t decided on Wolf or Marcum for Game 2

MILWAUKEE — Not needing to use Zack Greinke in relief for Game 5 of the National League Division Series made things a lot easier for Brewers manager Ron Roenicke.

Now that Greinke can pitch Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the Cardinals on Sunday, the only games Roenicke has to worry about are Games 2 and 4.

“If we would have used [Greinke] last night, we would have had some tough calls on how we run this rotation through the series,” Roenicke said. “But the way it is now, it works out well.”

Greinke is set for Game 1, and Yovani Gallardo is Milwaukee’s probable Game 3 starter. If the series goes the distance, Greinke and Gallardo would pitch Games 5 and 7, respectively. That leaves right-hander Shaun Marcum and lefty Randy Wolf for Games 2, 4 and 6.

Marcum had the best road ERA among qualified starters this season, which could make him a logical choice for Game 4 in St. Louis, but he also was the Brewers’ best starter for much of the season, so Roenicke likely would prefer to get two games out of him as well.

Neither Marcum nor Wolf performed well in the NLDS, as they each surrendered seven runs in short outings against the D-backs on the road. But Roenicke said he is unlikely to swap one of them out for lefty Chris Narveson, despite his good numbers against the Cards.

“I still really like these guys,” Roenicke said. “I think it’s comforting to know that they have pitched well against St. Louis. I think they know that, which should give them confidence.

“They know they get another shot at this, which they really want, because they weren’t happy with the way they pitched the other games. So I think they’ll both be fine.”

Roenicke likes what he’s seeing from Weeks

MILWAUKEE — While the box score may say that Rickie Weeks went 0-for-3 in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Saturday that he was pleased with Weeks’ performance.

Weeks is just 1-for-18 in the postseason, and he has struggled since returning in early September after missing 41 games with a severely sprained left ankle. Even so, Roenicke liked what he saw out of Weeks in Friday’s game, a 3-2 victory over the D-backs.

“First at-bat, he smokes a ball to right field. That’s really where he’s had some trouble,” Roenicke said. “And the next one, he gets hit. [Then he] tried to bunt — actually the bunt wasn’t that bad — but [Ian] Kennedy got off the mound great down the line to catch it.”

Had he not hit it right at Justin Upton, the ball Weeks hit in his first at-bat of Game 5 would have been an easy double. His only hit of the series was an RBI triple in Game 2, which scored Prince Fielder to put Milwaukee up, 4-1.

Since that triple, Weeks has gone 0-for-14 with a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch.

Despite the struggles, Roenicke said he does not think Weeks is pressing at the plate, and he remains confident in his ability to contribute as the Brewers move on to the NL Championship Series.

“I was OK with his at-bats yesterday — I thought that was an improvement from where he was,” Roenicke said. “And I know he’s feeling better all the time. Hopefully, he’ll get it together in this series, and we’ll see the kind of player he was before the ankle injury.”