Jim Goulart

No doubt the Brewers' Player Development Staff has multiple pitching success stories, so kudos to them (and Wily Peralta, Jimmy Nelson, Mike Fiers, and others) -- apparently, however, this was not one of their finer efforts: *** Lefty Thielbar handles increased role in Twins bullpen Phil Miller, the Star-Tribune OAKLAND, Calif. – He nearly turns his back to the batter as he winds up, then whirls forcefully forward, using an exaggerated stride toward the plate to generate velocity as he releases the ball. If you were a coach teaching proper pitching mechanics, you would erase all video of Caleb Thielbar’s delivery, for fear kids would emulate his violent motion. Wait, bad choice of words. “I don’t know if I’d say it’s violent — it’s explosive,” Thielbar said. “But the Twins didn’t try to change it. They’ve embraced it. And it’s worked out.” It has, probably because of his unusual windup, not despite it. Thielbar hasn’t had a season as statistically successful as last year, except when it matters. His ERA of 3.13 is significantly higher than last year’s 1.76, but it’s due almost entirely to a four-game slump in mid-May, when his control was out of whack. Remove that bad week, and the 27-year-old from Randolph, Minn., is at 1.95 this season. More importantly, he is pitching in significantly more critical situations this year, mostly against lefthanded batters, and he’s rewarding the Twins’ trust. Thielbar has held hitters to a .186 average in “high-leverage” or “medium-leverage” situations, when the game is at stake. Not bad for a guy the Brewers released before he climbed any higher than Class A. That unusual delivery is the reason why. When he was drafted, the Brewers did an evaluation of his mechanics, “and they said I was going to have some shoulder problems if I kept throwing that way,” Thielbar said. “They changed how I threw, and I lost 6 miles per hour immediately, and ended up getting released.” He went back to his old delivery when the Twins signed him off the St. Paul Saints roster, and he has stuck with it. “When he came over, we said, ‘[Do] you always throw like that?’ He told us the story, but if you ask hitters or catchers about him, they’ll tell you he’s very deceptive,” Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said. “One thing with pitching, you always love deception. You can get by with lesser stuff if you keep the hitter from seeing the ball. And that’s him. I would never change it.” Career numbers, including Brewer days

Latest Timber Rattlers player profile / Q&A posted to the Wisconsin thread as well...

Baseball academy paved Ortega’s path to professional baseball Tim Froberg, Post-Crescent Media Brewers' 2012 6th round SS from Puerto Rico the latest in a fine line of Tim's player Q&A sessions... Dan Powers photo http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9d0e778ad99dbdbde1c7588c821b9a24921097ca/c=166-0-3083-2188&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/Appleton/2014/08/10/-apcrattlersvssnappersjump1061114djp0344.jpg20140611.jpg

Breaking news -- Joantgel Segovia is still just 17 (until November). Mercy. And only 19 K's in 198 AB's.

Three would cross the plate in the fourth on a singular play which involved three errors. It resulted in two runners coming in from first and second and Julian Leon coming all the way around to touch them all via the three errors. The Brewers tied a season-high with five errors total on the night. Wow, couldn't resist pulling that one up -- Ogden Bottom of the 4th Michael Ahmed singles on a line drive to left fielder Edgardo Rivera. Cody Bellinger singles on a bunt ground ball to third baseman Sthervin Matos. Michael Ahmed to 2nd. Julian Leon reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Sthervin Matos. Michael Ahmed scores. Cody Bellinger scores. Julian Leon scores. Throwing error by left fielder Edgardo Rivera. Throwing error by pitcher Josh Uhen.

Ugly box score again tonight. However, the championship 2012 Timber Rattlers (78-61) were preceded by a 30-46 2011 Helena club. Gotta love baseball...

Final: @Birmingham 5, Huntsville 0 Barons Blank Stars Steve Jarnicki, Huntsville Stars Birmingham, AL - The Birmingham Barons trio of pitchers Chris Bassitt, Nelvin Fuentes and Davis Cales combined for 19 strikeouts as the Barons blanked the Huntsville Stars 5-0 Saturday night at Regions Field. Bassitt (1-0), the Birmingham starter, threw six shutout innings and limited the Stars to just three hits. Bassitt struck out eleven Stars. Austin Ross (0-1) started for Huntsville in his Double-A debut and wound up taking the loss. The Stars defense let Ross down in the bottom of the second inning. Kevan Smith and Joey DeMichele reached on back to back errors by shortstop Shea Vucinich and second baseman Nick Shaw. Two batters later, Jeremy Farrell lined a two-run single into left center making it 2-0 Barons. In the bottom of the fifth, the Barons had the bases loaded with two outs. With DeMichele trailing 0-2 against Ross, DeMichele lined a two-run single into center giving the Barons a 4-0 lead. Ross pitched 4.2 innings, allowed seven hits and gave up four runs (two earned). The Stars defense committed three errors in the game, and their third and final one in the sixth led to the Barons final run of the game. Trayce Thompson hit a grounder to shortstop and Vucinich couldn’t’ get the ball out of his hands to start a potential doubleplay. Josh Richmond followed with a sacrifice fly making it 5-0 Birmingham. The Barons ended their seven game losing streak while the Stars had their four game winning streak snapped. The Stars (23-26, 69-50) lead the Barons (23-25, 52-66) 3-1 in their five game series. The series finale will be Sunday afternoon. The Stars will have LHP Brent Suter (9-8, 4.24) on the mound. Birmingham will send RHP Myles Jaye (3-9, 5.85) to the hill. The game can be heard starting at 2:45 CDT on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM and wtkiradio.com. Huntsville Box Score Doesn't seem like Shea Vucinich already has 23 games at short this season, but the night off for Yadiel Rivera proved costly. DH Nick Ramirez and 1B Joey Paciorek are going to siesta tonight wearing golden sombreros. Ramirez is having a miserable August, and is down to .239 with an astonishing 132 K's in 440 AB's. Actually, Ramirez is faring better in that regard than last year at Brevard (171 K's in 500 AB's - golly). Too bad Shawn Zarraga's AAA stint was poor, his two hits here allow him to raise his 2014 AA average to .380 in 166 AB's. Huntsville Game Log Yes, RHP Austin Ross deserved better, but only slighly, as he did allow ten baserunners (beyond the errors) in 4.2 innings.

Via tweets from the Voice of the Stars, Steve Jarnicki: According to Southern League managers in a vote -- Nick Ramirez named best defensive first baseman Josh Prince named best baserunner D'Vontrey Richardson named best defensive OF

Initially posted Friday, here's the latest Progress Report from Brad (our Brevard/DSL Link Reporter) over at Miller Park Prospects.

To see tweets as to when the Link Report has been technically "completed" with available links, as well as to know when the new day's Report has been posted, please follow @Mass_Haas on Twitter. *** Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Nashville Media Notes - it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Roster" banner on the Sounds' site. Brevard County Media Notes - again, it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Multimedia" banner on the Manatees' site. Wisconsin Media Notes - Linked on the Rattler Radio blog *** STANDINGS: (For split-season leagues, 2nd half standings are shown as the default, although overall standings are also available at the link.) AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division Rookie - Arizona Summer League Central Division DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris *** Sortable individual stat pages: Nashville Huntsville Wisconsin Helena Maryvale Dominican Summer League Brewers *** Weather.com: Nashville, TN Birmingham, AL Viera, FL (Melbourne) Peoria, IL Ogden, UT Santo Domingo, DR

Follow Saturday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Game One Brevard County Game Two Wisconsin Helena DSL Brewers MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

Saturday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Taylor Jungmann at home vs. Round Rock (Rangers), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link Jeff Hem is the play-by-play voice of the Sounds; follow him on Twitter @jeffhempbp; we'll link to his blog updates at On the Air…and Off MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Nashville games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $49.99 season-long package ($12.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP Austin Ross makes his AA debut at Birmingham (White Sox), 6:10 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime Free Live Audio Link Steve Jarnicki is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars - welcome aboard! Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveJarnicki. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. MiLB.TV - It appears seven of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games (not the Stars). NOTE: Birmingham is among the Southern League squads to offer MiLB.TV broadcasts. ********** Brevard County: LHP Hobbs Johnson and RHP Damien Magnifico in a doubleheader at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 3:35 PM pre-game, 4:05 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings Free Live Audio Link -- Select the proper link based on listed schedule Dave Walkovic returns as the play-by-play voice of the 'Tees; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio, as all games are scheduled to be broadcast in 2014. No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Tristan Archer at Peoria (Cardinals), 6:10 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime Free Live Audio Link - 1280 AM WNAM Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio. For the $49.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from seven Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games. NOTE: Thirty-nine (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (9) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (30) will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and remember to refer to the Rattlers' full TV schedule so you can coordinate your DVR activity. ********** Helena: RHP Josh Uhen at Ogden (Dodgers), 7:45 PM pre-game, 8:00 gametime Free Live Audio Link There's a new Voice of the Helena Brewers in 2014, as Dustin Daniel (@dustin__daniel on Twitter) takes over for legendary Steve Wendt. We look forward to Dustin building his own legacy moving forward. ********** Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): Idle ********** DSL Brewers: at the DSL Tigers, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until later in the day We're also going to lock in the link to Brad Krause's fantastic Miller Park Prospects - Dominican Summer League primer right here, at least for the first couple of months of the DSL campaign, for your easy review. Brad will also be adding DSL Link Report duties to his Brevard coverage for us here. Thanks, Brad!

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

From Game Two: NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Logan Schafer's bases-loaded single in 5th inning powered the Nashville Sounds (64-56) to a 2-1 victory over the Round Rock Express in the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader at Greer Stadium. Schafer's one-out hit scored Matt Clark, who drew a walk to lead off the inning, and Irving Falu, who singled through the infield. Schafer extends his season-best hit streak to eight games. AUDIO: Schafer Knocks In A Pair

The Dodgers' hurler who dominated Helena netted himself an MiLB.com feature story for his perforance.

If you're interested in seeing Wisconsin highlights specifically from a Peoria perspective from the past two days (similar to what Rattlers staff does for home games), then click here and here.

Manatees pitcher grateful for help with medical bills Chris Bonanno, FLORIDA TODAY ROCKLEDGE – The Brevard County Manatees took time to help one of their own on Friday afternoon, hosting a charity golf tournament at Turtle Creek Golf Club to benefit the son of pitcher Jorge Lopez. The tournament, dubbed "18 for 18," referencing Jorge's jersey number with the Manatees, helped raise money for the Lopez family. Mikael, Jorge's 1-year-old son, suffers from an unknown autoimmune disease and has only spent a few days outside of a hospital. Funds from this event will go toward paying for Mikael's medical bills and travel for the Lopez family from their home in Puerto Rico to Miami, where Mikael is currently hospitalized. "I really appreciate them for coming," Jorge said. "… They (the Manatees) said I'm part of the family, so they really helped me, so I really appreciate them doing that and I feel blessed." Everything came together for the event perfectly, from getting an afternoon in early August without even a hint of rain, to getting a rare Friday off-day in what is generally a very busy part of the schedule for the Manatees. Ninety golfers participated in the event, and each hole was sponsored by a local business, adding to the financial assistance the Lopez family will receive. "Our daughter was born premature so I know what it's about, so it's really good to give back," said Brian Jaskiewicz, of Space Coast Intelligent Solutions, who played in the event and whose company sponsored a hole and team in the event. The genesis for the idea came a few weeks ago from Brevard County Manatees manager Joe Ayrault, who conveyed his idea to Manatees General Manager Kyle Smith. "The idea came about in a late-night discussion after a game ... Joe Ayrault actually is the one that came up with the idea 'let's do a golf tournament.' Then we looked at our schedule collectively and it's not often that a team gets a Friday off-day, so we decided to do it today and so far it's worked out great. "We set up a site on Go Fund Me for Jorge Lopez and his family. We generated about $4,000 there. We auctioned off Jorge's personalized glove, we made about $1,000 in one night there, so the collective pull for the Manatees Community Foundation has generated about $10,000. Those interested in helping the Lopez family can still do so through donations, adding to what has already been a tremendous community effort.

Final: @AZL Athletics 6, AZL Brewers 3 Maryvale Box Score First baseman Hunter Morris walked in four trips, 0-for-6 with two K's as he rehabs his fractured arm. RF Monte Harison isn't enjoying August (or late July, for that matter), he's in a dreadful slump and was 0-for-5 with a golden sombrero here. CF Carlos Belonis' line is pretty on the surface, but he's only walked seven times in 128 AB's. 20-year-old Dutch catcher Milan Post now 6-for-51 in his debut season. Maryvale Game Log Yo, RHP Angel Ventura! Five innings, six hits, two runs, but zero walks (one HBP) and ten K's! He had only fanned 20 in 32.2 innings prior to this game. RHP Caleb Smith (Rice) entered a tie game in the bottom of the 8th, but a three-run frame -- AZL Athletics Bottom of the 8th Yunior Santana remains in the game as the designated hitter. Pitching Change: Caleb Smith replaces Jordan Yamamoto. Vicmal De La Cruz walks. Robert Martinez out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Caleb Smith to first baseman Hunter Morris. Vicmal De La Cruz to 2nd. Shawn Duinkerk singles on a pop up to shortstop Jake Gatewood. Vicmal De La Cruz to 3rd. Argenis Raga triples (1) on a fly ball to left fielder Juan Ortiz. Vicmal De La Cruz scores. Shawn Duinkerk scores. Miguel Mercedes out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Monte Harrison. Argenis Raga scores. Edwin Diaz strikes out swinging. Edwin Diaz advances to 2nd, on a throwing error by catcher Milan Post. Wild pitch by pitcher Caleb Smith. Trace Loehr walks. Rodolfo Penalo grounds out, third baseman Leudi Otano to first baseman Hunter Morris.

Final: Huntsville 5, @Birmingham 2 Stars Win Fourth Straight Steve Jarnicki, Huntsville Stars Birmingham, AL - The Huntsville Stars won their fourth straight game Friday night with a 5-2 win over the Birmingham Barons at Regions Field in Birmingham. The Stars and Barons were delayed 91 minutes due to rain. The Barons jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning against LHP Jed Bradley (5-6). Trayce Thompson homered down the right field line off the foul pole. That was the only run Bradley allowed in his six innings of work on his way to a victory. The Stars took the lead for good in the top of the third inning. Nick Shaw tied the game at 1-1 on his groundout to first base which scored Erik Komatsu. Josh Fellhauer then singled back up the middle against Bryan Blough (2-4) giving the Stars a 2-1 lead. Shaw gave the Stars a 3-1 lead in the seventh on his RBI single into right. In the top of the eighth, the Stars got a pair of RBI doubles from Hector Gimenez and Josh Prince to increase the lead to 5-1. The Barons got an RBI single from Jeremy Farrell in the ninth against Kevin Shackelford making it 5-2. Fellhauer paced the Stars offense with a 3-5 game with an RBI. The Stars (23-25, 69-49) lead the Barons (22-25, 51-66) 3-0 in their five game series. Game four will be Saturday night. The Stars will have RHP Austin Ross (0-0, 0.00) on the mound. Birmingham will send RHP Chris Bassitt (0-1, 1.64) to the hill. The game can be heard starting at 6:15 CDT on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM and wtkiradio.com. Huntsville Box Score Another double-digit hit night for the Stars! Check out the second half standings in a middling North Division, as Huntsville's only one game out from sneaking a second half win to follow up their first half convincing session. OF Josh Fellhauer loves his Stars uniform, hitting .371 since the trade from Cincinnati. LHP Jed Bradley has sandwiched excellent outings around a nightmare one his last time out. Huntsville Game Log

Enjoy Jeff Hem's calls: The Sounds took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Clark (3-for-3) led off with a single against Ross and later scored on Irving Falu's two-out RBI single. AUDIO: Irving Falu Go-Ahead Single The Sounds, who entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 2-1, tied the score against Ross when Jason Rogers led off with a single and Sean Halton followed with a single, which plated pinch-runner Kevin Mattison with the tying run when right fielder Bryan Peterson misfired to the infield. AUDIO: Mattison Scores Game-Tying Run First baseman Matt Clark belted a walkoff two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Nashville Sounds a dramatic 4-2 victory over the Round Rock Express in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday evening at Greer Stadium. It was the 10th last at-bat victory of the season for Nashville (63-56), which extended its lead to one game over Memphis in the PCL American Conference Southern Division. Clark's game-ending homer, his fifth of the year, came against Round Rock starter Robbie Ross, Jr. (4-4), who drew the loss. Clark blasted Ross' 3-0 offering to right to end the contest. AUDIO: Matt Clark Walkoff HR

Former Brewers LH reliever Zach Braddock was released by his indy Atlantic League today despite good numbers in very limited action -- what once seemed so promising...

Oddity from Steve: RARE APPEARANCE IN BIRMINGHAM: After having played in Birmingham twice last year, the Stars are making their only appearance to Regions Field for this five-game series even though Birmingham and Huntsville are in the same division and are only an hour and forty five minutes away from each other. Last season, the Stars were 3-7 in the inaugural season of baseball at Regions Field. *** In 17 games with the Stars, OF Josh Fellhauer already has eight multiple hit games. In his last 25 games, SS Yadiel Rivera is batting .329 (27-82).

Thursday's game: VIDEO: Helena's Tucker Neuhaus doubles to bring home a run in the ninth inning of an 8-4 loss at Idaho Falls

Thursday's game: VIDEO: Huntsville's Yadiel Rivera hits an RBI triple in the fifth inning of a 6-3 win at Birmingham Later, his 2nd triple of the night was crunched to the right-center field gap.

To see tweets as to when the Link Report has been technically "completed" with available links, as well as to know when the new day's Report has been posted, please follow @Mass_Haas on Twitter. *** Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Nashville Media Notes - it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Roster" banner on the Sounds' site. Wisconsin Media Notes - Linked on the Rattler Radio blog *** STANDINGS: (For split-season leagues, 2nd half standings are shown as the default, although overall standings are also available at the link.) AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division Rookie - Arizona Summer League Central Division DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris *** Sortable individual stat pages: Nashville Huntsville Wisconsin Helena Maryvale Dominican Summer League Brewers *** Weather.com: Nashville, TN Birmingham, AL Peoria, IL Ogden, UT Phoenix, AZ Santo Domingo, DR