Rickie Weeks is not pleased with his reduced role. Credit: Reuters

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Brewers veteran second baseman Rickie Weeks is not happy about the dramatic reduction in playing time he is experiencing.

Trying to remain a team player, Weeks is not interested in popping off about it, however.

"It is what it is, I guess," Weeks said Wednesday. "I don't want it like this. I'm just going to hush my mouth about it."

Accustomed to playing regularly when healthy since coming up to the big leagues during the 2005 season, Weeks is being used in a platoon with Scooter Gennett at second base by manager Ron Roenicke. Because Weeks is the right-handed part of that platoon and only starts against lefties, his playing time has been dramatically reduced.

In the Brewers' first 15 games, Weeks made four starts. He has 21 at-bats compared to 36 for Gennett. To this point, Weeks has not adjusted to getting irregular at-bats, hitting .143 with no runs batted in. He has one extra-base hit, a double, and is 0 for 6 as a pinch hitter, including a strikeout with the bases loaded and one down Wednesday against St. Louis.

"It has been (difficult)," said Weeks. "But I don't want to say too much about it. I feel good right now (at the plate). It's just that at-bats are kind of far between. You've got to stay aggressive but sometimes it's hard to stay aggressive with one at-bat."

Weeks put himself in jeopardy by falling off badly at the plate the last two seasons. Then, when Weeks was lost for the rest of the 2013 season in early August with a hamstring tear, Gennett took over at second base and performed well, batting .324 and handling defensive duties with aplomb.

Any thought the Brewers might have of getting rid of Weeks was tossed aside because of an $11 million salary this season that other clubs would not want to pick up. He made some adjustments at the plate in the spring and swung the bat much better but that has not carried over to part-time play during the season.

Roenicke admitted it has been difficult to get Weeks going at the plate with so few opportunities. Accordingly, there's no way to know if the platoon is going to work at this stage.

"I see him (in batting practice) and he still looks good," said Roenicke. "But somewhere along the line you need to have that feeling and get some hits and feel confident, and then hopefully that carries you for a long spell.

"There are a lot of platoon systems that work really well. The guy who is the right-handed hitter, he's the one who's got the games where you might not play for two weeks."

So, how is Roenicke going to get Weeks going at the plate, particularly if he's only going to start against lefties?

"It may be difficult," said Roenicke. "We're trying to win as many games as we can, and I have to figure out who are the best guys to put out there that day. It's difficult on some of them.

"It's no different than a guy who is playing ever single day (in the minors). He comes to the big leagues and now he's a bench player. It's the same thing."

Asked if he has talked to the quiet Weeks about the situation, Roenicke said, "We talk about what I have planned, what I'm thinking. But I don't go past that too much."

Braun needs day off: The ongoing issue with Ryan Braun's ailing right thumb is going to lead to periodic off-days and Wednesday was one of them. Braun did not have very good swings Tuesday, was 1 for 8 in the series and 5 for 20 on the homestand with no RBI.

"We try to do what we can to get him better for the next day," said Roenicke.

Roenicke said he processes both what he sees and what Braun communicates to him about his thumb when deciding when a day off is appropriate. Braun has sat out twice due to the thumb, including a game in Boston.

Gorzelanny not close: Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny, who opened the season on the disabled list after undergoing off-season shoulder surgery, likely won't be back for several weeks. He recently had a promising bullpen session in Phoenix but must progress to throwing to hitters before going out on a minor-league rehab assignment.

Reliever Brandon Kintzler, on the other hand, is expected to be ready to pitch when eligible to come off the DL on April 24 (an off-day). Sidelined with a slight rotator cuff strain, Kintzler played catch for the first time before the game and said it went well.

"There was a little rust from not throwing for so long," said Kintzler. "Other than that, it felt good."