Roller-coaster season continues for the Brewers' Keon Broxton

PITTSBURGH – If one places stock in trends, Keon Broxton is about due for a hot streak.

Entering Wednesday, the Milwaukee Brewers centerfielder was mired in a 3-for-45 slump, leaving him with an .067 average, one home run and four runs batted in over his last 15 games.

It's just the latest dip in what’s been a roller-coaster season at the plate for the 27-year-old, whose 2017 season has thus far been defined by alternating frigid and torrid spells at the plate.

Here's how it's broken down so far:

Through his first 14 games, Broxton hit .119. It was a period marred by his being hit in the face by a pitch and suffering a nasal fracture on April 6.

Over his next 28 games, Broxton hit .337 with four homers and 12 RBI. He followed that up with an .082 stretch that spanned 16 games, then hit .353 with seven homers and 18 RBI over the next 16 games before embarking on his latest skid.

He's mixed three career-high hitting streaks of seven games in his hot spells as well.

If history is any indicator, is that upswing just around the corner for Broxton? 

"I think so, for sure," he said. "My at-bats aren't too bad. I've been making solid contact, I've been putting balls in play for the most part. I've just got to keep moving forward, putting the barrel on the ball and keep going forward."

Broxton was at .222 with 14 homers and 36 RBI for the season entering Wednesday's game. He'd stolen 17 bases but has been getting on at only a .297 clip, and his 120 strikeouts in 288 at-bats ranked third in the major leagues.

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The streakiness is a tough way to exist for a player who, with 171 career games under his belt, has barely played an entire major-league season.

"It doesn’t rest easy on my mind at night, for sure," Broxton said. "But the only thing you can do is keep the faith and keep figuring out ways to get better and to get back to where you were. You’ve just got to believe.

"This game is all about adjustments, so figure out the adjustments as quick as possible and just move on."

Indeed, Broxton has shown the ability to adjust on the fly.

Last year, Broxton bounced back and forth between the Brewers and Class AAA Colorado Springs four times before finally sticking. It was a tweak he made at the plate during his final stint in the minors – dropping his hands – that helped lead to a strong finish and made him the favorite to start in center coming into spring training.

Manager Craig Counsell also has rookie Brett Phillips on the roster as a left-handed-hitting counterpart to Broxton, but Counsell is counting on Broxton to get back on track.

"He’s trying to lengthen the hot streaks and shorten the cold streaks like every player is," Counsell said. "But he’s handled it well. It’s always frustrating toward the end of one of these things, and I’m hopeful and optimistic that we’re at the end of this and he’s going to get it going again."

Close watch: Ryan Braun was given his first off-day of the second half on Wednesday, with Eric Thames taking his place in left field and Jesús Aguilar hitting third.

"He’s played all five games since the all-star break," Counsell said. "We’re going to have to be careful moving forward. His wrist is a little sore today, his calf is a little sore. So we’re just being cautious.

"We got five days in a row out of him, which is a good sign moving forward. When we get little tweaks, just stay ahead of them. We’ve got depth and it’s been a big part of our season."