Scheduled rest has kept Braun in lineup

ST. LOUIS — Ryan Braun raps his knuckles on the wooden bench at Busch Stadium to satisfy his superstitious side, then confirms what the statistics say is obvious: A plan concocted in Spring Training to protect his surgically repaired back by working in scheduled days off has worked just as the Brewers and their best player had hoped.

“Overall, to this point, it’s been a good season, not a great season,” Braun said. “But by doing this, I think it gives me the best chance moving forward of getting back to having some great years.”

Braun returned to the lineup Saturday, following one of those preventative days of rest, with a .909 OPS and a 134 Weighted Runs Created Plus, his best marks in each category since 2012, when Braun was runner-up to Buster Posey in National League MVP balloting. His wRC+, a popular measure of offensive production because it corrects for ballpark effects, puts Braun 23rd among Major Leaguers with at least 450 plate appearances, just behind American League MVP candidate Mookie Betts.

Saturday marked Braun’s 120th game played and 115th start, on pace for 136 games and 131 starts by season’s end — just shy of Braun’s preseason target of 140 games. That pace could be altered in the next two weeks, as his wife, Larisa, is due to give birth to the couple’s second child during the Brewers’ final homestand.

Braun had surgery two days after last season for a bulging disk. An unrelated neck issue forced …

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