On solitary runs, long exercises down streets and through neighborhoods designed to deaden the legs, stretch the lungs and exhaust key shoulder and arm muscles and ligaments, is when John Axford would go to work.

When the body is bankrupt, the mind needs to be tapped.

Simple things can prepare him for this. Like on a run, focusing on the approaching stop sign, zeroing in on the "O," visualizing not just the baseball going through it, but rehearsing the proper thought process to make that happen.

"That's kind of a mental step while I'm already physically exhausting myself," Axford said. "That's something that exists and will exist when I'm out there on the mound and because at one point you're going to have to mentally step yourself up and get your game up. So that's something small you can do when you're not really doing anything on the baseball field. You're doing something to prepare being out there."

Over three seasons and 141 games, that preparation served the 29-year-old Milwaukee Brewers reliever well. There were many self-taught lessons that were developed as he recovered from Tommy John surgery in college, was a draft-and-follow pick Cincinnati that didn't include the follow – just a "we don't want you."

There was the release by the New York Yankees after a year that saw him play for three Class A affiliates and one game in Class AAA.

The mental gymnastics began early for Axford.

"I took a different process and a different road than other people I guess have gone down," he said. "Not to try and make mine sound like it's better than anybody else's, it's just a different process than some people. You gotta fight and work just like anybody else that tries to play the game, but (when) you have certain obstacles in your way like I've had, I think I've just had more perseverance to drive a little bit extra and grab a little bit more."

While he had to prove he belonged at nearly every level, it created situations for Axford where he would find himself too "in the moment" on the mound, worrying about his mechanics, the execution of a pitch, or about the situation he was trying to get out of.

"Sometimes, for anybody, you can over-think things. I know I definitely have," he said. "It's what I always used to do when I was in college. When things were going well I never did at all and if I didn't know what I was doing all of a sudden it's a working process in my head trying to figure everything out. The same thing in the minor leagues the first couple years. Rather than just let my physical attributes take care of themselves I was worrying, mentally, more about what I was supposed to do in that particular moment and not the whole aspect."

Once Axford finally latched on with the Brewers organization, first as a starter at Class A Brevard County in 2008 and then as a closer-in-waiting to future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman in 2010, he had found putting in the mental work prior to an appearance that would make performing in pressurized situations easier to handle.

It also gave Axford an insight into how to comport yourself when things go awry. Following a 37-save season in 2009 with the Brewers, Hoffman blew five saves early in 2010 that led to a changing of the guard to Axford.

"As great as he was, even through those tough times in 2010, he was the same guy," Axford said. "You could go up and talk to him at any moment and he would always laugh and he would always tell jokes with you and he was the same guy. So just keeping that same mental approach and going about your business the same way is the best thing."

That is where Axford is now, going about his business in the same way while in the midst of one of the most frustrating seasons he's had as a professional.

In his 141st game as a major leaguer, he picked up his sixth save of the season and 49th straight overall – good for fourth all-time. After that, things began to unravel.

He blew his first save since early 2011 in an eventual 8-7 win over the Cubs on May 11. His next four appearances were in non-save situations, and then ended May by converting his next four save opportunities.

Then there were the back-to-back meltdowns in Kansas City in mid-June, followed by another in Toronto shortly thereafter. The breaking point came nearly a month later following his sixth blown save of the year against St. Louis. It was then that manager Ron Roenicke decided to remove him from the closer's spot.

"I think I was really trying to focus and think about what I was doing rather than just doing it, doing what you've done before," he said.

It reminded him of his days in college and with the Yankees organization, when he became too aware of, well, everything.

"That's where maybe the lapse was, my mental game wasn't as strong as it was in those moments because I was thinking a little bit too hard or putting a little too much personal pressure on myself rather than just focusing on the simplistic parts of the game," he said. "It was the mental side I needed to work on. It's something I've felt I've done a very good job of until recently, through this year."

Immediately after being pulled from the closer's role, the Axford of old returned. He didn't allow a run in his next five appearances – until he blew his seventh save of the year against Washington on July 29. He was back the next day however, converting his 17th save against Houston.

Despite watching his mentor go through similar struggles two years ago, and even Ryan Braun slumping with a .260 average and two homers throughout May of his MVP season last year, Axford realized watching isn't the same as experiencing, and that's it's not always a quick fix.

"Sometimes people get lost in it and they falter and they fall back a little bit," he said. "It's just a matter of being able to build yourself back up and get out of that little rut, that little hole you happened to dig yourself into."

Through Monday, Axford has converted 87 percent of his career saves (89 for 102). It's the same percentage Mariano Rivera, and greater than that of Troy Percival (86), Dennis Eckersley (85), teammate Francisco Rodriguez (84), Brad Lidge (83).

All have surrendered leads in the most horrific of fashions, and all have had one or even two-year dips in save percentage in their careers. Yet all were able to bounce back.

Hoffman, who converted 89-percent of his save opportunities in his career, averaged seven blown saves a year from ages 27-29, and then converted 90-percent or more in seven of the next eight seasons.

It's why Axford likes to say there is no crystal ball as to what a Hall of Famer, perennial All-Star or 10-year veteran, looks like. It could be a first round pick, or an undrafted free agent. It's why he exhausts the body - to liven the mind – and he knows in the end, that will get him back to where he needs to be.

"You just gotta keep working and keep going after it and I think that's where for me, the mental side comes in, because the physical side I know is there," Axford said.

"I work as hard as I can, I prepare myself as physically as I can to make sure injury and everything like that, you want make sure you keep all that out. That's where the physical side of the game comes in, but it's the mental side that helps you stick around a little bit longer and stay through it longer."