MILWAUKEE -- Here was the best news for the Brewers as they opened their final homestand of the regular season: They were as healthy as they had been in weeks.

Reliever Corey Knebel returned from the injured list earlier this week, and banged-up position players Ryan Braun (back), Avisaíl García (ankle, hamstring) and Jedd Gyorko (foot) all were able to start the series opener Friday against the Cubs, which began a stretch of eight games in six days against Chicago and St. Louis.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell characterized Braun and Gyorko as day to day, but he was reasonably confident that García was in a good place. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound García has served as the Brewers’ regular center fielder since Lorenzo Cain elected at the start of August not to play the remainder of 2020.

“It’s been a grind,” García said. “Most of my career, I’ve been playing right field. At right field, you don’t have to run a lot. That’s the big difference between center field and right field. I think I’ve got to cover all the gaps, and playing every day, it’s a grind. But I like to play. I’m a competitive guy. I’m going to play wherever they put me and try to do my best.”

García entered Friday with a .237/.351/.360 slash line this season, perhaps better than the Brewers expected in the on-base department when they signed him to a two-year contract with a club option, but not what the team was hoping for in terms of slugging.

Does García believe that playing somewhat out of position has negatively impacted his performance at the plate?

“I’ve been struggling a little bit,” he said. “Like I say, it’s a grind. It’s a big difference [in 2020], but it’s no time for an excuse. I think I’ve been struggling. I just keep working. It’s a short season, you know?”

While García gets his legs back under him -- he walked twice, doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored three runs Wednesday in a 19-0 win over the Tigers -- the Brewers will also keep an eye on Braun and Gyorko. Both players homered in the blowout win -- Gyorko homered twice -- in performances that reinforced their value, when healthy.

“In Jedd's case, it's something that can just pop up,” Counsell said. “The times he's been hobbled, it's not necessarily an on-field thing that's caused it. He's just got this painful spot in his foot that at times just flares up.

“The days off for Ryan and Avi have certainly helped. I think we're in a good place with Avi. With Ryan, it's always going to be day to day for me. It's been that way in the recent past here of how we're just having to manage him. He's in a good place, but again, it's not necessarily always frequency of playing that gets him. It can kind of just be everyday living that gets him sometimes.”

Last call
• Counsell faces a balancing act over the weekend, when every game against the Cubs is crucial and yet the next series must be on his mind. The Brewers and Cardinals face doubleheaders on Monday and Wednesday as they make up a series postponed in early August following positive COVID-19 test in the Cardinals’ travel party.

“The difficult part is the doubleheaders,” Counsell said. “We have to understand what that's going to do to our pitching here in the near-term, quickly. … I think we're going to try to get wins when we see a chance for them, but I think it's also important knowing how many innings of baseball we have the next six days, that we also take that into consideration when considering every move.”

• Former Brewers outfielder Carlos Gómez will join broadcaster Lane Grindle on the next “Clubhouse Conversations” web event at 3 p.m. CT on Monday. The 30-minute chats air each Monday at brewers.com.