History of professional baseball in Milwaukee
2004–present: Attanasio era
### 2004–present: Attanasio era

#### 2004–2006: Building a winner

On January 16, 2004, Selig announced that his ownership group was putting the team up for sale, to the great relief of many fans who were unhappy with the team's lackluster performance and poor management by his daughter, [Wendy Selig\-Prieb](/wiki/Wendy_Selig-Prieb "Wendy Selig-Prieb"), over the previous decade. In September 2004, the Brewers announced they had reached a verbal agreement with Los Angeles investment banker [Mark Attanasio](/wiki/Mark_Attanasio "Mark Attanasio") to purchase the team for a reported US$223 million. The sale to Attanasio was completed on January 13, 2005, at Major League Baseball's quarterly owners meeting. Other members of Attanasio's ownership group include [private equity](/wiki/Private_equity "Private equity") investor [John Canning Jr.](/wiki/John_Canning_Jr. "John Canning Jr."), David Uihlein, Harris Turer and Stephen Marcus, all of whom were involved with the previous ownership group led by Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.[Attanasio seeks more local owners](http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2005/03/21/story1.html). The Business Journal of Milwaukee, March 18, 2005 Since taking over the franchise, Attanasio has worked hard to build bridges with Milwaukee baseball fans, including giving away every seat to the final home game of 2005 free of charge and bringing back the classic "ball and glove" logo of the club's glory days on "Retro Friday" home games, during which they also wear versions of the team's old pinstriped uniforms.

##### 2004

The Brewers caused a stir in the first half of the 2004 season, when the team had a winning record in the first half of the season, even briefly being in 1st place in the NL Central. However, lack of a productive offense doomed the Brewers and the club sunk back to last place, finishing the season 67–94\. The Brewers did have some bright moments during the season with pitcher [Ben Sheets](/wiki/Ben_Sheets "Ben Sheets") striking out 18 Atlanta Braves in one game and the Brewers coming back from a 9\-run deficit to beat the [Cincinnati Reds](/wiki/2004_Cincinnati_Reds_season "2004 Cincinnati Reds season").

After the 2004 season, with Mark Attanasio now in control of the franchise, the Brewers were finally able to spend some money on free agents. The Brewers first significant free\-agent signing in many years was veteran catcher [Damian Miller](/wiki/Damian_Miller "Damian Miller"), a Wisconsin native, and to address a need for better run production, the Brewers traded speedy outfielder Scott Podsednik and relief pitcher Luis Vizcaíno to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for slugging outfielder [Carlos Lee](/wiki/Carlos_Lee "Carlos Lee"). The arrival of Lee gave Brewer fans even higher hopes that better seasons were on the way for the Brewers.
[thumb\|225px\|right\|Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder at Spring training, 2005](/wiki/File:Prince_Rickie.jpg "Prince Rickie.jpg")

##### 2005

In [2005](/wiki/2005_Major_League_Baseball_season "2005 Major League Baseball season"), under Attanasio's ownership, the team finished 81–81 to secure its first non\-losing record since 1992\. True to form, Carlos Lee provided the Brewers with much needed run support, hitting 32 home runs and driving in 112\. Starting pitcher Chris Capuano also had a stellar season, going 18–12 with a 3\.99 ERA, the most wins by a Brewer pitcher since Pete Vuckovich won 18 games in 1982\.

With a solid base of young talent assembled over the past five years, including [Prince Fielder](/wiki/Prince_Fielder "Prince Fielder"), [Rickie Weeks](/wiki/Rickie_Weeks "Rickie Weeks"), [J. J. Hardy](/wiki/J._J._Hardy "J. J. Hardy") and [Corey Hart](/wiki/Corey_Hart_%28baseball%29 "Corey Hart (baseball)"), the Brewers showed renewed competitiveness. Further encouraging this sentiment, the Brewers had hired former stars Yount (bench coach; resigned in November 2006\) and [Dale Sveum](/wiki/Dale_Sveum "Dale Sveum") (third base coach), both very popular players for the Brewers in the '80s.

##### 2006

In [2006](/wiki/2006_Major_League_Baseball_season "2006 Major League Baseball season"), the Brewers' play disappointed fans, players, and management. They began the season 5–1 and had a 14–11 record at the end of April. On [Mother's Day](/wiki/Mother%27s_Day "Mother's Day") Bill Hall hit a walk off home run with his mother in the stands, a play that was shown on ESPN throughout the summer. However, soon starters JJ Hardy, Rickie Weeks, and Corey Koskie were lost to injuries, and the Brewers were forced to trade for veteran infielders [David Bell](/wiki/David_Bell_%28baseball%29 "David Bell (baseball)") and [Tony Graffanino](/wiki/Tony_Graffanino "Tony Graffanino"). They also suffered setbacks when losing starting pitchers [Ben Sheets](/wiki/Ben_Sheets "Ben Sheets") and [Tomo Ohka](/wiki/Tomo_Ohka "Tomo Ohka") for a substantial amount of time, forcing Triple A starters [Ben Hendrickson](/wiki/Ben_Hendrickson "Ben Hendrickson"), [Dana Eveland](/wiki/Dana_Eveland "Dana Eveland"), [Carlos Villanueva](/wiki/Carlos_Villanueva_%28baseball%29 "Carlos Villanueva (baseball)"), and [Zach Jackson](/wiki/Zach_Jackson_%28pitcher%2C_born_1983%29 "Zach Jackson (pitcher, born 1983)") into starting roles at different points in the year. Shortly before the [All Star](/wiki/2006_Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game "2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game") break the Brewers climbed to one game above .500, but then lost their next three to the [Chicago Cubs](/wiki/Chicago_Cubs "Chicago Cubs") and would never return to .500\. After the All Star break closer Derrick Turnbow blew four straight save opportunities. This led to the Brewers being far enough down in the standings that management decided to trade free agent\-to\-be [Carlos Lee](/wiki/Carlos_Lee "Carlos Lee") to the [Texas Rangers](/wiki/Texas_Rangers_%28baseball%29 "Texas Rangers (baseball)") for closer [Francisco Cordero](/wiki/Francisco_Cordero "Francisco Cordero"), outfielder [Kevin Mench](/wiki/Kevin_Mench "Kevin Mench"), and two minor league prospects. Cordero replaced Turnbow as the Brewers closer and had immediate success, converting his first 13 save opportunities. On August 24 the Brewers completed a sweep of the [Colorado Rockies](/wiki/2006_Colorado_Rockies_season "2006 Colorado Rockies season") to climb to less than five games out in both the NL Central Division and NL Wild Card races, but then Milwaukee went on a 10\-game losing streak that ended any postseason hope. The Brewers did rebound and play well in September including a four\-game sweep of [San Francisco](/wiki/2006_San_Francisco_Giants_season "2006 San Francisco Giants season"), but it was too little too late. The Brewers ended the season with a 75–87 record.

At the end of the season, Attanasio stated that he and General Manager Doug Melvin would have to make some decisions about returning players for the 2007 season. With young players waiting in the minor leagues, during the off\-season the key additions were starting pitcher and 2006 NLCS MVP [Jeff Suppan](/wiki/Jeff_Suppan "Jeff Suppan"), starter [Claudio Vargas](/wiki/Claudio_Vargas "Claudio Vargas"), reliever [Greg Aquino](/wiki/Greg_Aquino "Greg Aquino"), catcher [Johnny Estrada](/wiki/Johnny_Estrada "Johnny Estrada"), and returning Brewer [Craig Counsell](/wiki/Craig_Counsell "Craig Counsell"). The Brewers parted ways with 2006 starters [Doug Davis](/wiki/Doug_Davis_%28pitcher%29 "Doug Davis (pitcher)") and Tomo Ohka, as well as fan favorite [Jeff Cirillo](/wiki/Jeff_Cirillo "Jeff Cirillo"), who wanted more playing time with another team.

#### 2007: The return to respectability

[thumb\|upright\|Prince Fielder](/wiki/File:Prince_Fielder_%28929557698%29.jpg "Prince Fielder (929557698).jpg")
[thumb\|upright\|Ben Sheets](/wiki/File:Ben_Sheets_2008-04-12.jpg "Ben Sheets 2008-04-12.jpg")

Before the 2007 season, the buzz surrounding the Brewers greatly increased. They were dubbed a "sleeper team" and "contenders in the NL" by numerous sports analysts and magazines. ESPN's Peter Gammons and Dan Patrick both picked The Brewers to beat out the defending champion [Cardinals](/wiki/2007_St._Louis_Cardinals_season "2007 St. Louis Cardinals season") and re\-vamped [Chicago Cubs](/wiki/2007_Chicago_Cubs_season "2007 Chicago Cubs season") to win the NL Central. To celebrate the successful 1982 Milwaukee Brewers team, the franchise decided to have the [2007 season](/wiki/2007_Major_League_Baseball_season "2007 Major League Baseball season") be named as the "25th Anniversary of '82", with more fan giveaways than any other Major League Baseball team except the [Pittsburgh Pirates](/wiki/Pittsburgh_Pirates "Pittsburgh Pirates"), and more discounts and deals than any other time in Brewers' history.

ESPN.com's lead story on August 29 stated: "... Then there are the Brewers. The strange, impossible\-to\-figure\-out Brewers. They once had the best record in the majors, were 14 games over .500 twice, and led the division by as many as 8½ games on June 23\. Since then, and there's no nice way of saying it; they've reeked."[sitting in the driver's seat](https://www.espn.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2995727&sportCat=mlb%22Cubs) The Brewers cast this negativity to the side, and rebounded in September. Despite poor performances from the usually steady [Chris Capuano](/wiki/Chris_Capuano "Chris Capuano") and more nagging injuries to [Ben Sheets](/wiki/Ben_Sheets "Ben Sheets"), the Brewers found themselves in a heated pennant race with Chicago's North Siders. The team's playoff drive took a hit late in the year, however, losing three of four games in a crucial series in Atlanta, dropping the Brewers to a season\-high 3\.5 games out of first. The Brewers won the first two games of their final homestand of the season to pull within two games of the Cubs, but faced a near impossible task with the club's elimination number down to only three and the wild card leading [Padres](/wiki/2007_San_Diego_Padres_season "2007 San Diego Padres season") coming to town. The club played well, but the Cubs clinched on the final Friday of the season. On September 29 the Brewers beat Padres 4–3 in extra innings to secure a winning season. The game was tied in the ninth inning by a triple by [Tony Gwynn Jr.](/wiki/Tony_Gwynn_Jr. "Tony Gwynn Jr.") in a highlight reel play that was repeated often during the 2007 post season. That win, and the win the next day, by the Brewers kept the Padres from advancing to the playoffs. The irony, of course, being that Gwynn's [father](/wiki/Tony_Gwynn "Tony Gwynn") was arguably the most popular Padre of all\-time, and Tony Gwynn Jr. would later be traded to the Padres in 2009\. Milwaukee finished at a respectable 83–79, only two games behind Chicago, the club's best finish since 1992\.
First baseman [Prince Fielder](/wiki/Prince_Fielder "Prince Fielder") made history in 2007, becoming the first Brewer and the youngest player ever to reach the 50 home run mark in a single season. For his effort, he finished third in the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player voting, garnering 284 total points including 5 first place votes. Fielder was also awarded the [Hank Aaron Award](/wiki/Hank_Aaron_Award "Hank Aaron Award") for reaching the amazing single year record. Third baseman [Ryan Braun](/wiki/Ryan_Braun "Ryan Braun") was also rewarded for his historic season by being named 2007 NL Rookie of the Year.

#### 2008: The return to the postseason

[thumb\|upright\|[Ryan Braun](/wiki/Ryan_Braun "Ryan Braun"), 2008](/wiki/File:DSC03365_Ryan_Braun.jpg "DSC03365 Ryan Braun.jpg")

The Brewers came into 2008 with hopes of ending the team's 26\-year playoff drought, adding several veterans to the team in outfielder [Mike Cameron](/wiki/Mike_Cameron "Mike Cameron") and catcher [Jason Kendall](/wiki/Jason_Kendall "Jason Kendall"), as well as relief pitchers Éric Gagné and [Salomón Torres](/wiki/Salom%C3%B3n_Torres "Salomón Torres"). The Brewers started April on a solid winning note, but suffered two big blows in their pitching rotation when [Dave Bush](/wiki/Dave_Bush "Dave Bush") was demoted to AAA Nashville, and [Yovani Gallardo](/wiki/Yovani_Gallardo "Yovani Gallardo") suffered a potential season ending knee injury. The team dropped below .500 by the middle of May, capped off by a sweep from the [Boston Red Sox](/wiki/Boston_Red_Sox "Boston Red Sox").

The Brewers rebounded in June as Salomón Torres took over as closer, becoming a big success, and soon climbed back into contention. As June came to a close, the Brewers made their biggest move for playoff contention as they traded four prospects, most notably [Matt LaPorta](/wiki/Matt_LaPorta "Matt LaPorta"), to the [Cleveland Indians](/wiki/Cleveland_Indians "Cleveland Indians") for [CC Sabathia](/wiki/CC_Sabathia "CC Sabathia"). General Manager Doug Melvin summed up the trade by saying, "We are going for it." The Brewers came into the [All\-Star break](/wiki/2008_Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game "2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game") with a 52–43 record, still third behind the Cubs and Cardinals. Ben Sheets was named starting pitcher for the National League in the All\-Star game, and Ryan Braun also started at left field. Corey Hart was named to the team in the Final Vote.

The Brewers came out of the All\-Star break with a bang as they won their first seven games back, all of them on the road, sweeping first the Giants and then the Cardinals, taking over first place in the Wild Card standings. The Brewers came into the end of July still in the hunt for the division, but the front running Cubs swept the Brewers in a four\-game set at Miller Park. While the Brewers were still holding on to the Wild Card lead, the division was never seriously challenged for the remainder of the year.

The Brewers came off the sweep from the Cubs with an amazing August, winning 20 of 28 games in the month. Sabathia made history by becoming the first pitcher in over 90 years to win his first 9 games after being traded mid\-season. With a steady five game lead for the Wild Card, the hope of a playoff spot seemed secured, but the Brewers struggled in September, first getting swept by the [New York Mets](/wiki/2008_New_York_Mets_season "2008 New York Mets season"), and then just over a week later, getting swept in four games by the [Philadelphia Phillies](/wiki/2008_Philadelphia_Phillies_season "2008 Philadelphia Phillies season"), losing their lead in the Wild Card. Feeling a change was needed, the Brewers fired manager Ned Yost with just 12 games left in the season, replacing him with Brewers third base coach [Dale Sveum](/wiki/Dale_Sveum "Dale Sveum"). Sveum named Garth Iorg as his replacement as third base coach, and made [Robin Yount](/wiki/Robin_Yount "Robin Yount") the new bench coach, replacing [Ted Simmons](/wiki/Ted_Simmons "Ted Simmons"). With the final 6x games at home, the Brewers were still in the hunt for the Wild Card behind the New York Mets. They first swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, thanks to walk\-off home runs by [Prince Fielder](/wiki/Prince_Fielder "Prince Fielder") and [Ryan Braun](/wiki/Ryan_Braun "Ryan Braun"), tying the New York Mets for the Wild Card lead with 3 games to go against the NL Central division champion [Chicago Cubs](/wiki/2008_Chicago_Cubs_season "2008 Chicago Cubs season").

The Brewers took the first game thanks to a pinch\-hit home run by [Rickie Weeks](/wiki/Rickie_Weeks "Rickie Weeks") and stellar relief pitching by [Seth McClung](/wiki/Seth_McClung "Seth McClung"). The Cubs took the second game, with the Wild Card race still in a dead tie. CC Sabathia was called to pitch his third game in a week, and was stellar, pitching a complete game, while Ryan Braun hit possibly the biggest home run in club history with a 2\-run shot in the 8th inning to break a 1–1 tie. The Brewers won 3–1 while the New York Mets lost to the [Florida Marlins](/wiki/2008_Florida_Marlins_season "2008 Florida Marlins season") 4–2, sealing the Brewers the Wild Card spot.

##### 2008 NLDS

The Brewers finished the 2008 season one game ahead of the New York Mets in the wild card race with a final record of 90–72, and faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. This was the first time the Brewers reached the playoffs since 1982\.

The Brewers played their first postseason game in 26 years on October 1\. Pitcher [Yovani Gallardo](/wiki/Yovani_Gallardo "Yovani Gallardo") made his first postseason start and only his second start since coming off the disabled list in late September. The Brewers lost the first game of the NLDS 3–1 on a dominant performance by Phillies pitcher [Cole Hamels](/wiki/Cole_Hamels "Cole Hamels"). Hamels allowed only two hits and struck out nine Brewers batters in eight shutout innings. The Brewers mounted a comeback in the 9th inning as closer [Brad Lidge](/wiki/Brad_Lidge "Brad Lidge") allowed two hits, a walk, and a run to score. However, Brewers right fielder Corey Hart struck out with runners on second and third to end the game.

The Brewers hosted Game 3, which was the first playoff game ever hosted at Miller Park and the first in Milwaukee since Game 5 of the 1982 World Series. The Brewers won, but were eliminated in Game 4, ending the Brewers season while the Phillies went on to win the World Series.

#### 2009: Missing playoffs

During the off\-season, the Brewers lost C.C. Sabathia when he filed for free agency and signed a lucrative deal with the [New York Yankees](/wiki/New_York_Yankees "New York Yankees"). Despite the loss of a starting pitcher in Sabathia, the Brewers were able to sign all\-time [save](/wiki/Save_%28baseball%29 "Save (baseball)") leader [Trevor Hoffman](/wiki/Trevor_Hoffman "Trevor Hoffman"). The Brewers were not able to build on their success from the year prior falling below .500 but were witness to Prince Fielder setting the all\-time franchise record for RBI.

#### 2010

The Brewers attempted to shore up their starting pitching with the signing of free agent [Doug Davis](/wiki/Doug_Davis_%28pitcher%29 "Doug Davis (pitcher)"), but the Brewers still struggled. After just one month, the Brewers released [Jeff Suppan](/wiki/Jeff_Suppan "Jeff Suppan"), Doug Davis got injured, and Trevor Hoffman struggled to get saves. The only bright spots of the season was the Brewers' hitting. The Brewers were the only team in baseball to have three players with 100\+ RBIs in Ryan Braun, Casey McGehee, and Corey Hart. The Brewers lost 9 games in a row in May and never fully recovered, finishing the season 77–85, which was good for 3rd place in the National League Central division, behind the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. The only other bright spots of the season was Trevor Hoffman getting his 600th career save and the emergence of new closer [John Axford](/wiki/John_Axford "John Axford"). After the season, the Brewers chose not to renew the contract of manager Ken Macha. In October, just days after the World Series, the Brewers hired [Ron Roenicke](/wiki/Ron_Roenicke "Ron Roenicke"), bench coach of the Los Angeles Angels, to be the Brewers' new manager.

#### 2011 season: NL Central champs

[thumb\|200px\|Shaun Marcum, 2011](/wiki/File:Shaun_Marcum_at_Miller_Park%2C_Milwaukee%2C_Wisconsin_-_20110612.jpg "Shaun Marcum at Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 20110612.jpg")
With the trades for [Shaun Marcum](/wiki/Shaun_Marcum "Shaun Marcum") and [Zack Greinke](/wiki/Zack_Greinke "Zack Greinke"), the Brewers were tabbed by many experts as favorites to not only win the NL Central Division, but also contenders for the National League pennant. The Brewers did suffer some early losses in spring training, as Zack Greinke was lost to a rib injury that would keep him out for a month, and Corey Hart was out for the first half of April with a hamstring injury, which caused the Brewers to make a last\-minute trade at the end of spring training for Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan.

The Brewers struggled during the first month of the season, losing their first 4 games of the season and fell as far down as to 5th place in the NL Central Division, but the Brewers rebounded starting at the end of May and throughout June and early July. By the All\-Star Break, the Brewers were in 2nd place in the division, behind Pittsburgh and St. Louis. To address some needed bullpen depth, the Brewers made a shocking trade just hours after the All\-Star Game, trading two Class\-A prospects to the New York Mets for ace reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who immediately became the Brewers set\-up reliever for closer John Axford.

The Brewers went on a hot winning stretch through the month of August and by the beginning of September were  games ahead of St. Louis for the NL Central lead. Though the Brewers scuffled some in September, the Brewers clinched the division on September 26, beating the Florida Marlins 4–1\. The Brewers finished the season with a 96–66 record, the best record in franchise history.

Along with their team accomplishments, the Brewers had many individual achievements from their players. Ryan Braun finished the season with 33 homers and 33 steals while finishing second in the National League in batting average, hitting .332 while Prince Fielder finished second in the league in both home runs and RBIs, hitting 38 home runs while driving in 120\.

The Brewers starting pitching was also drastically better than 2010\. Each of the Brewers 5 regular starters had 10\-plus wins during the regular season. Yovani Gallardo won 17 games, the most by a Brewer since 2005, Zack Greinke won 16 games despite missing one month, both Shawn Marcum and Randy Wolf won 13 games, and number five starter Chris Narveson won 11 games. It was the first time since 1982 that the Brewers had five pitchers with 10 or more wins in a season. The Brewers also used fewer starting pitchers than any team in baseball, using only six starting pitchers, with [Marco Estrada](/wiki/Marco_Estrada_%28baseball%29 "Marco Estrada (baseball)") filling in for 7 games when Greinke and later Narveson were out with injuries.

#### 2011 Postseason

The Brewers faced the NL West Champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS and won the first two games at Miller Park, with Yovani Gallardo pitching 8 stellar innings in a 4–1 Game 1 win. The Diamondbacks won games 3 and 4 in Arizona, setting up a deciding Game 5 back in Miller Park. The Brewers had a 2–1 lead going into the 9th inning when closer John Axford blew his first save since April, giving up the lead. The Brewers went on to win the game and the series in the 10th inning on a base hit by Nyjer Morgan driving in Carlos Gomez for the winning run. The Brewers faced their divisional foe and the NL Wild Card winner, the St. Louis Cardinals, who had upset the favored Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. Many Brewer fans welcomed facing the Cardinals with the National League pennant at stake, with the Brewers and Cardinals having a growing rivalry, and also a chance for the Brewers to avenge their 1982 World Series defeat, which was at the hands of the Cardinals. The two teams split the first two games at Miller Park, then the Cardinals took two out of 3 games at Busch Stadium and won Game 6 to win the National League pennant and eventually the World Series against the Texas Rangers. Probably the biggest reason for the Brewers defeat was the downfall of their starting pitching. In their 11 postseason games, the Brewers starting pitchers only had three quality starts, with Yovani Gallardo accounting for two of them, both of which were in the NLDS. The other quality start was Randy Wolf in Game 4 of the NLCS.

#### 2012

In the offseason, the Brewers would lose many of their spot players that had helped them during the season, such as [Mark Kotsay](/wiki/Mark_Kotsay "Mark Kotsay"), [Jerry Hairston Jr.](/wiki/Jerry_Hairston_Jr. "Jerry Hairston Jr."), and [Craig Counsell](/wiki/Craig_Counsell "Craig Counsell") but their most notable loss was that of Prince Fielder, who would leave the team via free agency after having been a part of the Brewers organization for almost a decade. Fielder would end up signing with the Detroit Tigers. The Brewers would make two significant free agent signings during the off\-season, signing shortstop Alex Gonzalez and third baseman Aramis Ramierez to improve the left side of the Brewers infield. The Brewers would also sign Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki to bring some needed outfield depth.

The biggest news of all during the off\-season, though, was the issue of the reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun apparently testing positive for PED's and facing a possible 50\-game suspension. Braun would appeal the suspension and won on the basis that the test was not processed properly, making him the first player to win an appeal against a suspension regarding illegal substances.

Despite the offseason losses and controversies, the Brewers fans still looked forward to the 2012 season with great optimism, as the Brewers, by the end of February, had sold over 1\.5 million tickets, the most before the month of March. However, the Brewers started the season poorly, with a 40–45 record by the All\-Star break. Poor bullpen play put the team even further out of contention by the end of July, which caused the Brewers to trade ace pitcher [Zack Greinke](/wiki/Zack_Greinke "Zack Greinke") to the [Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim](/wiki/Los_Angeles_Angels_of_Anaheim "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim") in exchange for top minor league shortstop Jean Segura and two minor league relief pitchers.

Suddenly, in mid\-August, the Brewers went on a run to put themselves back in postseason contention. The bullpen started to turn itself around and the team was able to get production from several minor league call\-ups, like [Mike Fiers](/wiki/Mike_Fiers "Mike Fiers"), [Martin Maldonado](/wiki/Martin_Maldonado "Martin Maldonado"), [Jeff Bianchi](/wiki/Jeff_Bianchi "Jeff Bianchi"), and [Wily Peralta](/wiki/Wily_Peralta "Wily Peralta"). Combined with stellar hitting of [Ryan Braun](/wiki/Ryan_Braun "Ryan Braun"), [Aramis Ramírez](/wiki/Aramis_Ram%C3%ADrez "Aramis Ramírez"), [Corey Hart](/wiki/Corey_Hart_%28baseball%29 "Corey Hart (baseball)"), and [Jonathan Lucroy](/wiki/Jonathan_Lucroy "Jonathan Lucroy"), the Brewers, from August 16 to September 23, won 26 of 35 games. However, the Brewers were eliminated from postseason contention on September 30, a 7–0 loss to the [Houston Astros](/wiki/Houston_Astros "Houston Astros").

The Brewers still finished with a winning record in 2012, going 83–79, finishing in 3rd place in the NL Central behind Cincinnati and St. Louis.

#### 2013

The Brewers hoped to become contenders again in 2013, and tried to shore up their starting pitching with the signing of free\-agent [Kyle Lohse](/wiki/Kyle_Lohse "Kyle Lohse"), but the Brewers, after starting off well with a 14–11 record in April, fell flat with a 6–22 mark in May, and never regained momentum, finishing the season 74–88\.

Further compounding the Brewers' fall during the season were nagging injuries to Aramis Ramírez, and also Ryan Braun's supposed involvement with the Biogenesis scandal, which resulted in Braun being suspended for the final 60 games of the regular season after he admitted to taking PEDs during the 2011 playoffs. Major League Baseball did not force Braun to surrender his 2011 National League MVP award.

On the field, the Brewers did have several individual performances that gave fans some hope for the coming seasons. Shortstop Jean Segura finished second in the National League with 44 stolen bases, and Carlos Gomez had a breakout season, batting .284 with 24 home runs, 40 stolen bases, and became the first Brewer since 1982 to win a Gold Glove award for his defensive play, and catcher Jonathan Lucroy had a stellar offensive season, hitting 18 home runs and driving in 82 RBIs.

#### 2014

Few experts considered the Brewers as contenders in the NL Central for 2014, even after the Brewers signed another free\-agent starting pitcher in [Matt Garza](/wiki/Matt_Garza "Matt Garza"); most expected the Brewers to finish no better than 4th in the division. The team also improved their bullpen with resigning Francisco Rodriguez as closer, trading outfielder Nori Aoki to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for a young pitcher in Will Smith, and signing veteran slugging first baseman Mark Reynolds.

The Brewers started the season hot, going 20–7 in April, much to the surprise of many. The Brewers have showed much improved starting pitching, with a steady rotation in Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Matt Garza, Wily Peralta, and Marco Estrada. In addition, Francisco Rodriguez regained his old form, successfully closing out his first 17 saves of the season, and Will Smith became virtually untouchable, sporting a 0\.88 ERA in the first two months of the season.

Though the Brewers showed some struggles in the months of May and July, the team continued to stay on top of the standings as one of the better teams in the National League, helped by an 18–10 record in June. By mid September, however, they had lost their division lead to the St. Louis Cardinals and were trailing behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Wild Card race.

The Brewers were in first place in the division from April 5 to September 1, but ultimately finished third in the division after a sub\-.500 September, barely getting over .500 with an 82–80 record.

A couple of standout performers for the Brewers came from Jonathon Lucroy, who finished with a .301 batting average and led the National League with 53 doubles and set a new Major League record for doubles by a catcher in a season with 48\. Second\-year pitcher Wily Peralta had a 17–11 record, while Kyle Lohse had a 13–9 record with 2 complete game shutouts.

#### 2015

The offseason for the Brewers was relatively quiet, with only a couple of trades made where the Brewers parted with two starting pitchers. [Marco Estrada](/wiki/Marco_Estrada_%28baseball%29 "Marco Estrada (baseball)") was traded to the [Toronto Blue Jays](/wiki/Toronto_Blue_Jays "Toronto Blue Jays") for first baseman [Adam Lind](/wiki/Adam_Lind "Adam Lind"), and [Yovani Gallardo](/wiki/Yovani_Gallardo "Yovani Gallardo"), after 8 seasons with the Brewers and becoming the franchise's all\-time strikeout leader, was traded to the [Texas Rangers](/wiki/Texas_Rangers_%28baseball%29 "Texas Rangers (baseball)"). During the offseason, [Ryan Braun](/wiki/Ryan_Braun "Ryan Braun"), who had his worst season ever during 2014 (.266 avg., 19 HR, and 81 RBI's), had surgery on his right thumb, which had bothered him all during the season and was thought to be the reason behind his dismal numbers. On the field, the Brewers' season went south almost immediately, going 5–17 in the month of April. On May 4, manager Ron Roenicke was fired and Craig Counsell was named interim manager, staying manager for the Brewers through the rest of the season, as the team finished 68–94\.

#### 2016: Rebuilding

The Brewers began a mode of rebuilding the team, with Doug Melvin stepping down as general manager and being replaced with Houston Astros assistant GM, [David Stearns](/wiki/David_Stearns "David Stearns"). Stearns kept interim manager [Craig Counsell](/wiki/Craig_Counsell "Craig Counsell"), making him the Brewers full\-time manager, and traded away over half of the Brewers' 40\-man roster from 2015 before the 2016 season came to a close. The Brewers finished the 2016 season with a 73–89 record, but had a 41–40 record at home, and had two players lead the National League in major offensive categories, with infielder [Jonathan Villar](/wiki/Jonathan_Villar "Jonathan Villar") leading the NL, and all of Major League Baseball, with 62 stolen bases, and first baseman Chris Carter tied for the NL lead in home runs, with 41\. Ryan Braun also had a rebound season, with a .305 batting average, 30 home runs, 91 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases. The Brewers also traded away many franchise stars in exchange for prospects, such as Jonathan Lucroy and Carlos Gomez, and other starters, with the exception of Ryan Braun.

#### 2017

The Brewers came into 2017 with minimal expectations other than continuing their rebuilding of the team. The team surprised many by finishing the month of April at .500, with encouraging performances from Eric Thames, Chase Anderson, Jesus Aguilar, and Travis Shaw. The Brewers continued to stay around .500 for the next two months, and took advantage of the struggles of the Cubs and Cardinals, and started July with a hot 7–2 start, putting the Brewers at 50–41 for the season, 5\.5 games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central at the All\-Star break. The Brewers struggled after the All\-Star break, going 3–11 for the rest of July, followed by a 6\-game losing streak in the middle of August. The Brewers still stayed in the race for the Wild Card game, but fell short of the postseason and the NL Central Division, with an 86–76 record, which still was a surprise for many in the baseball community.

#### 2018

With the opportunity to build off their surprising 2017 run, Brewers GM David Stearns worked on stocking up the Brewers roster for 2018, including signing pitchers Jhoulys Chacin and Junior Guerra, and outfielder Lorenzo Cain, who had originally started his MLB career in Milwaukee. The Brewers also traded for another outfielder, Christian Yelich, for four minor leaguers. The Brewers started 2018 well, helped by a stretch in May where they went 19–8 to put themselves on top in the NL Central division, taking advantage, once again, of early struggles for both the Cubs and Cardinals. However, the team struggled again in the middle of the season, going 40–39 through the months of June, July, and August. However, they were still in the playoff hunt, leading in the Wild Card, but were still 5 games behind the division\-leading Cubs going into the final month of the season. The Brewers got hot again, going 19–7 in September, including winning 10 of their last 11 games, the last 8 in a row, to catch the Cubs. Christian Yelich led the offense, going on an offensive tear, including hitting clutch home runs in two of the final three games of the season against the Detroit Tigers. The Brewers tied the Cubs for the NL Central lead, resulting in a one\-game playoff for the division title. The Brewers won 3–1, clinching their second division title of the decade, and only their 3rd in franchise history, finishing with a 96–67 record, tying the franchise record for wins in a season. The Brewers continued their hot run in the NLDS, against the Colorado Rockies, sweeping them in three games to advance to the NLCS, also achieving at least 12 wins in a row for only the second time in their history. The Brewers faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, but the Brewers were unable to keep their late momentum, as the Dodgers bullpen was able to quiet the Brewers' bats, winning the National League pennant in seven games.

#### 2019

Following their amazing 2018 campaign, GM David Stearns worked more on adding more talent to the Brewers roster, including signing free agent catcher [Yasmani Grandal](/wiki/Yasmani_Grandal "Yasmani Grandal") and third baseman [Mike Moustakas](/wiki/Mike_Moustakas "Mike Moustakas"), each on one year contracts. The Brewers headed into the month of September with an overall record of 69–66, being four games behind the Cubs for the second wild card spot and trailing the Cardinals by six and a half games for the division lead. On September 25, the Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds 9–2 to clinch a postseason spot for the sixth time in franchise history, knocking the Cubs out of playoff contention. It was also the first time the Brewers had made the postseason for a consecutive season since 1982\. But in their final three regular season games, they were swept by the Colorado Rockies at [Coors Field](/wiki/Coors_Field "Coors Field"), which lead to the Brewers finishing 20–7 in September, 89–73 for the regular season, and finishing two games behind the NL Central Champion Cardinals. They ended up taking the second spot in the wild card. Therefore, the Brewers faced the eventual World Series champion [Washington Nationals](/wiki/Washington_Nationals "Washington Nationals") in the [NL Wild Card Game](/wiki/2018_National_League_Wild_Card_Game "2018 National League Wild Card Game") in Washington D.C., where they lost 4–3\.

#### 2020

After a frustrating end to the season, Brewers lost some key players in the offseason. Free agent [Yasmani Grandal](/wiki/Yasmani_Grandal "Yasmani Grandal") signed with the Chicago White Sox, [Eric Thames](/wiki/Eric_Thames "Eric Thames") signed with the Washington Nationals, and third baseman [Mike Moustakas](/wiki/Mike_Moustakas "Mike Moustakas") signed with the Cincinnati Reds. Their biggest move was extending former MVP [Christian Yelich](/wiki/Christian_Yelich "Christian Yelich") to a 9\-year $215 million deal. Due to the [COVID\-19 pandemic](/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic "COVID-19 pandemic"), the 2020 season was shortened to 60 games and did not begin until late July. For the 2020 season, MLB expanded to a 16\-game postseason with all teams playing in the first round. Brewers finished the season 29–31 tied with the [San Francisco Giants](/wiki/San_Francisco_Giants "San Francisco Giants"), but the Brewers had a better record against their division opponents which made them eligible for the last spot in the playoffs. In the [first round of the playoffs](/wiki/2020_National_League_Wild_Card_Series "2020 National League Wild Card Series"), the Brewers faced the [Los Angeles Dodgers](/wiki/Los_Angeles_Dodgers "Los Angeles Dodgers"), who swept them in two games and went on to win the [2020 World Series](/wiki/2020_World_Series "2020 World Series").

#### 2021

With a 4\-game postseason losing streak, David Stearns helped out the infield by signing [Kolten Wong](/wiki/Kolten_Wong "Kolten Wong") and [Travis Shaw](/wiki/Travis_Shaw "Travis Shaw"). He tried signing third baseman [Justin Turner](/wiki/Justin_Turner "Justin Turner") but he extended with the Dodgers. During the season, [Milwaukee Bucks](/wiki/Milwaukee_Bucks "Milwaukee Bucks") superstar [Giannis Antetokounmpo](/wiki/Giannis_Antetokounmpo "Giannis Antetokounmpo") joined the Brewers ownership group.

In 2021, the Brewers earned their fourth consecutive postseason berth, winning the National League Central with a 95–67 record. Pitcher [Corbin Burnes](/wiki/Corbin_Burnes "Corbin Burnes") set an all\-time record by starting the season with 58 strikeouts without issuing a walk. He also led the major leagues in ERA (2\.43\), strikeouts per nine innings (12\.6\), home runs per nine innings (0\.4\), and strikeout\-to\-walk ratio (6\.88\). For his amazing season, Burnes won the NL [Cy Young Award](/wiki/Cy_Young_Award "Cy Young Award"). [Josh Hader](/wiki/Josh_Hader "Josh Hader") was another hardware recipient, becoming the [Major League Baseball Reliever of the Year Award](/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_Reliever_of_the_Year_Award "Major League Baseball Reliever of the Year Award") winner in the National League for the third time in four years. For the third straight season, the Brewers were eliminated in the postseason by the eventual World Series champions, as they lost the [NLDS](/wiki/2021_National_League_Division_Series "2021 National League Division Series") to the [Atlanta Braves](/wiki/Atlanta_Braves "Atlanta Braves").

#### 2022

The Brewers' winning ways continued through the first half of the 2022 season. On July 30, the team had a four\-game lead in the National League Central. However, the Brewers then lost 21 of their next 35 games to fall  games behind the [St. Louis Cardinals](/wiki/2022_St._Louis_Cardinals_season "2022 St. Louis Cardinals season"). The Brewers were eliminated on October 3 and missed the postseason for the first time in five years.


Can a team with a strong regular season record still experience postseason struggles?