Roenicke: It's going to be 'a hard season' for Braun

PHOENIX -- I don't remember the last time I walked into the Brewers clubhouse and didn't get a warm greeting from Ryan Braun.

There was no greeting at all Sunday morning.

Braun, as I'm told he has been doing most of the spring, didn't appear in the clubhouse at all during the time the media was allowed in. On a rainy morning where the Brewers did all their work inside (and on a day where Braun didn't play in the game), I saw Braun only once, far away down a hallway.

People close to Braun say he's doing fine, that he will be fine, and that his slow start to the spring (he's 1-for-15) is of no real concern. Braun said as much on Saturday, when he spoke to Milwaukee writers after a game in Tempe.

But Brewers manager Ron Roenicke admitted Sunday morning that Braun is going through a spring unlike any he has ever had before, and that he's about to begin a season unlike any before.

"He had a tough winter," Roenicke said. "It's going to be a hard season to go through."

Roenicke expressed confidence that Braun will still be the player he has been, the player who won the National League's Most Valuable Player award and led the Brewers to a 96-win season in 2011.

"When he's taking [batting practice], there is no difference from last year," Roenicke said. "He hits balls where I'm amazed. Here in a week or so, I picture Ryan getting locked in, and being where he needs to be."

That could well happen. Fifteen at-bats wouldn't be enough to make a judgment during the regular season, let alone during spring training.

And Braun certainly doesn't need to talk to me or anyone else if he chooses not to.

You wonder, though, how much all that has happened is still weighing on him. You wonder when a guy who likes to talk and likes to smile feels such a need to stay away. You know -- and he has to know -- that if he does struggle during the season, some people will see the drug issue as the reason, in one way or another.

You get the idea that Roenicke is right, that this is going to be a difficult season for Braun.

And how will that affect how he plays? We'll just have to wait and see.


(cbssports.com)