The Milwaukee Brewers' 2009 season was the 40th season for the franchise in Milwaukee and 41st overall. It was Ken Macha's first season as manager of the team. The Brewers failed to improve on their 90–72 record of a year ago and missed the post season, finishing with a losing record of 80–82.
Offseason moves
Pitchers Starting pitchers CC Sabathia, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a mid-season trade in 2008, and Ben Sheets both rejected arbitration and became free agents following the end of the 2008 season. Numerous teams showed interest in Sabathia, considered one of the best free agent pitchers available after compiling an 11–2 record and an ERA of only 1.62 in 17 starts for the Brewers in 2008. The Brewers made a 5-year, $100 million contract offer to Sabathia, but he elected to sign with the New York Yankees on December 9, receiving a 7-year, $161 million contract that was the largest received by a pitcher at the time. No serious attempt was made to resign Sheets, who had been the Brewers' ace before the acquisition of Sabathia but struggled with numerous injuries throughout his career.
In the bullpen, closer Salomón Torres elected to retire from baseball despite believing that it would have been "a given" that the Brewers would exercise their 2009 contract option on him. After a disappointing 2008 season, former closer Éric Gagné was not offered arbitration. Left-handed specialist Brian Shouse was offered arbitration, but instead chose to sign with the Tampa Bay Rays. No attempt was made to resign Guillermo Mota, who eventually signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Needing to acquire at least one starter to fill the hole in the rotation left by Sabathia and Sheets, the Brewers signed free agent Braden Looper, formerly of the St. Louis Cardinals, to a one-year, $4.5 million contract for 2009. To replace the retired Torres, the Brewers turned to all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, who became available after contentious contract negotiations caused the San Diego Padres, Hoffman's home for 16 years, to pull back their 2009 contract offer. Hoffman was signed to a one-year, $6 million contract for the Brewers. Relievers Todd Coffey, who was signed to a one-year contract avoiding arbitration after being claimed off waivers in September, and free agent Jorge Julio rounded out the offseason bullpen acquisitions.
Position players
Outfielder Gabe Kapler, second baseman Ray Durham, and third baseman Russell Branyan all became free agents following the end of the 2008 season; Kapler and Branyan signed one-year contracts with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Mariners respectively, while Durham remains unsigned . Center fielder Mike Cameron's $10 million contract option for 2009 was exercised by the Brewers. Utility infielder Craig Counsell's $3.4 million contract option was declined by the Brewers, making him a free agent, but the team later agreed to terms on a new one-year, $1 million contract in late January.
Coaching staff Having made the move of firing manager Ned Yost with only 12 games remaining in the 2008 season, an early priority for the Brewers was the hiring of a permanent replacement for Yost. Candidates considered included interim manager Dale Sveum, former Oakland Athletics manager Ken Macha, former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph, and broadcaster and former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly. On October 30, 2008, the Brewers announced the hiring of Macha, who received a two-year contract to manage the club. In an unusual move, Macha proceeded to hire two of his competitors for his coaching staff, naming Randolph the bench coach and Sveum the hitting coach. Although the Brewers offered pitching coach Mike Maddux a new contract, they were unable to match the offer made by the Texas Rangers. Bullpen coach Bill Castro was promoted to pitching coach, while Nashville Sounds pitching coach Stan Kyles was promoted to fill the vacated bullpen coach position. Brad Fischer was hired as third base coach to round out Macha's new staff.
Spring training The Brewers opened spring training camp on February 13, with the first game played on February 25. Home games were played at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, Arizona. The Brewers compiled a 22–10–3 record in spring training games, the best record of any National League team and the second-best record (behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) in the Cactus League.
The 2009 spring training season was affected by the 2009 World Baseball Classic, which was held in March. Six players in the Brewers system played in the Classic and missed time during spring training: left fielder Ryan Braun (Team USA), relief pitcher Mark DiFelice (Team Italy), and minor league players Vinny Rottino (Team Italy), Adam Stern (Team Canada), Brett Lawrie (Team Canada), and David Welch (Team Australia). Additionally, the Brewers played an exhibition game against Team Australia, winning by the score of 10 to 5.
With the lineup and starting rotation largely set, the main position battles entering camp were for spots in the bullpen and on the bench. Ultimately, the available bench spots were claimed by infielder Casey McGehee, who had been claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs during the offseason, center fielder Chris Duffy, who was invited to camp as a non-roster invitee, and outfielder Brad Nelson, the Brewers' fourth-round draft pick in 2001. Mike Lamb, who had been expected to make the club before McGehee's strong spring, was released by the team on April 1; he was eventually signed to a minor league deal by the New York Mets. Closer Trevor Hoffman suffered an oblique strain in mid-March and was forced to begin the regular season on the disabled list.
Regular season
April The Brewers opened the regular season on the road on April 7 with a loss against the San Francisco Giants; Jeff Suppan made his first Opening Day start for the Brewers and fourth overall. The Brewers won their home opener three days later with a ninth inning rally over the rival Chicago Cubs. Overall, however, the team struggled during the first few weeks of the season, losing four consecutive series against the Giants, the Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, and the New York Mets. The Brewers' pitching staff struggled early, compiling a 5.19 ERA during the first four series. Manny Parra, the number three starter in the rotation, particularly struggled and finished the month with an 0–4 record with a 6.52 ERA, and Suppan went 1–2 with a 5.88 ERA. The team's fortunes improved considerably after an 11–4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on April 21, however, as the Brewers won series against the Phillies and the Houston Astros before returning home and sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates to close the month, rallying to a 12–10 overall record in April.
Leading the offense during the month of April was Mike Cameron, who led the team with a .333 batting average and tied for the team lead in home runs with 5. Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks also hit 5 home runs in April. The month's best starting pitcher was newly acquired Braden Looper, who went 2–0 with a 2.45 ERA in April. Dave Bush came within five outs of a no-hitter in a 6–1 win over Philadelphia on April 23.
Trevor Hoffman returned from the disabled list and made his first Brewers appearance on April 27 in a non-save situation; he recorded his first save with the Brewers (and 555th overall) the following day. Backup catcher Mike Rivera, however, suffered a sprained ankle in the same game and was placed on the disabled list; rookie Carlos Corporán was called up from Nashville to replace him.
May The Brewers opened May with a split of a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks before sweeping the Pirates in a two-game series in Pittsburgh. In sweeping the Pirates, the Brewers extended their winning streak against Pittsburgh to 17 games dating back to May 20, 2008, the longest winning streak by one Major League Baseball team over another since 1970. The Brewers continued their winning ways in the following five series as well, splitting series against the Reds and Cubs, sweeping the Florida Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals, and winning two out of three games in Houston. In a one-month period between April 21 and May 21, the Brewers did not lose a series and went 22–6, the best record in baseball over that period. The team struggled at the start of interleague play, however, as the Brewers were swept in their last scheduled visit to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome by the rival Minnesota Twins. Returning home, the Brewers won a Memorial Day matinee against the Cardinals in a game where both Yovani Gallardo took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter had a perfect game into the seventh inning, but lost the next two games, leaving the Cardinals in sole possession of first place in the NL Central. The Brewers finished the month of May with a sweep of Cincinnati, giving the team an 18–10 record for the month.
Injuries and ineffective play by several bench players caused the Brewers to make several roster moves during the month of May. Mike Rivera returned from the disabled list on May 14 as Carlos Corporán was returned to the minors; Corporan appeared in only one game, where he caught the last two innings of a 15–3 blowout of the Cincinnati Reds on May 6 and singled off of regular Cincinnati shortstop Paul Janish in his only at-bat. The team suffered a significant setback on May 18 when starting second baseman Rickie Weeks suffered an injury to his left wrist, ending his 2009 season. For the time being, Craig Counsell and Casey McGehee are expected to replace Weeks in the lineup; Hernán Iribarren was called up from Nashville following the injury, but was returned to Nashville after only one series. Brad Nelson, who went hitless in 21 at-bats, declined a demotion to the minor leagues and became a free agent on May 15; top third base prospect Mat Gamel was called up to replace Nelson on the roster. On May 21, the Brewers traded Triple-A outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. to the San Diego Padres in exchange for outfielder Jody Gerut; Chris Duffy was demoted to Nashville to make room on the roster for Gerut. Finally, on May 21 the team called up outfielder Frank Catalanotto, who had been signed to a minor league contract by the team earlier in the month.
June The Brewers opened June on a sour note, dropping three out of four games to the Florida Marlins at Land Shark Stadium, but rebounded in the next series and won two out of three against the Atlanta Braves. Following a poor outing on June 1 in which he failed to retire any of the six batters he faced, Jorge Julio was released; Mike Burns was called up to take Julio's spot in the bullpen. In 15 appearances for the Brewers, Julio went 1–1 with a 7.79 ERA in innings. The Brewers returned to Miller Park on June 9 but suffered a 1–5 homestand in which the team was swept by Colorado and lost two out of three against the Chicago White Sox. After giving up 6 runs in innings in the second game of the White Sox series, Manny Parra was demoted to Triple-A Nashville; in 13 appearances through June 13, Parra went 3–8 with a 7.52 ERA. In the third game of the series, Trevor Hoffman finally gave up his first run of the season in what was then a tie game; Hoffman had pitched innings in 2009 without giving up a run.