The Major League Baseball playoffs are in full swing, and the Milwaukee Brewers are home, left to wonder what happened after getting off to record breaking start to the season. There were positives to draw on, some bad stretches that doomed them, and after it all, questions from management about the heart of the team.

This is a look back at 2014.

The Good

Jonathan Lucroy
The 28-year-old catcher played the most games of his career (153) in turning in an All-Star campaign in which he hit .301 and led the National League in doubles with 53 – which was also a club record. He also posted a career-high 6.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which was good for eighth in all of Major League Baseball and first among position players in the National League. While the catcher wasn’t immune to the team’s offensive struggles in the second half, Lucroy he also posted a career-best 2.0 defensive WAR.

June 27-28
On June 27, Ryan Braun walked off the Colorado Rockies with a single to give the Brewers their 50^th win of the season, making them the first team in all of baseball to reach that mark and set a club record for best record through 82 games. It also happened to be Braun’s first walk-off hit since the memorable 2011 season. The next day, the Brewers won, 7-4, to move to 19 games over .500, their high water mark for the season.

Wily Peralta
In his second full season as a starter, Wily Peralta ended the year with general manager Doug Melvin telling WSSP 105.7 that he pitched well enough to be considered a No. 2 starter. The 25-year-old right-hander tied for fifth in the National League with Zack Greinke in wins (17) and nearly reached the 200-inning mark (198 2/3) in 32 starts. He also led all Brewers pitchers in WAR (2.7) and quality starts (22).

The Bad

Ryan Braun
The former National League Most Valuable Player underwent a cryotherapy procedure last week in the hopes of correcting a nerve issue in his right thumb that severely affected his swing throughout the year, but he did play in 135 games and made 580 plate appearances, good for third on the team. Of the seven years in which he’s played at least 100 games, Braun posted career lows in runs, hits, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, batting average, on base percentage and WAR.

June 29
After improving to 51-32 on June 28, the Brewers lost 10-4 to the Rockies in which starter Yovani Gallardo gave up eight runs, five earned, in five innings. That game was the start of a four game losing streak and a 22-day stretch in which they went 3-13 and saw their entire 6 ½ game lead in the National League Central disappear.

First base
The Brewers have continued to struggle at this spot since Prince Fielder departed for free agency, and the second straight year of plugging the hole with multiple players wasn’t very successful. The two primary fill-ins, Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay, combined to hit .211 with a .304 on base percentage. Reynolds did finish second on the team with 22 homers, but he finished the year hitting .196 while Overbay eventually found himself becoming a key contributor in pinch hitting roles. Lucroy ended up spending time at first, and Matt Clark and Jason Rodgers ended the year getting looks there, too.

The Ugly

July through September
The Brewers went 31-47 over the final three months of the season and the offense completely disappeared, scoring five or more runs 20 times in those 78 games and just three times in the entire month of September. In those three months the team’s average dropped from .261 to .238, they scored 116 fewer runs and hit 26 fewer home runs.