A Schelling For Your Thoughts

MILWAUKEE — Rickie Weeks doesn’t have many hits over the past two weeks. Only four, to be exact. But each one of them has been absolutely crushed.As Weeks continues to recover from a severely sprained left ankle suffered in late July, which forced him to miss 41 games, he looks to be getting a bit more comfortable at the plate again lately.

Batting fifth in the Brewers’ order, Weeks’ bat is one Milwaukee could really use.

“I’ve always got confidence,” Weeks said. “I’ve been swinging the bat pretty good, I think. … Of course I’d like to see some results.”

In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday, Weeks got his second hit in as many days, a no-doubt two-run homer that put the Brewers back within striking distance of the Cardinals in the fourth inning.

It was his first career postseason home run, and Weeks picked up his second and third RBIs of his 10-game postseason career. Along with the home run, Weeks hit a double in Milwaukee’s six-run fifth inning in Game 1 of the series and had an RBI triple in Game 2 of the NL Division Series.

The part of the cycle Weeks doesn’t have in the postseason is a single.

“What he’s doing right now on that ankle is impressive,” said Brewers slugger Prince Fielder.

“Rickie’s tough. What he’s doing, you couldn’t ask somebody to do that. But he’s willing to do it for the team, which is just really awesome.”

Since returning Sept. 10, Weeks has just 12 hits in 62 at-bats. Before the injury, Weeks was batting .272 with 19 home runs and 43 RBIs.

Including the final three regular-season games, Weeks is batting just .111 over his last 36 at-bats. But the encouraging thing for Weeks and the Brew Crew is that the four hits have all gone for extra bases.

Along with the three postseason hits, Weeks blasted a home run in Game 161 of the regular season off the left-field NYCE Stadium Club in the third deck.

If he can put a few more of those hits together, and perhaps a two- or three-hit game sometime this series, it could make a very big difference in the Brewers’ lineup.

“Rickie’s a great player, man,” said Milwaukee third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. “I know he missed a lot of time. Anytime you miss close to two months, your timing is going to be off. Obviously he’s not completely 100 percent yet. But we definitely need him. He’s a great player.”

Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.