Jim Goulart

Birmingham newspaper photo gallery includes some nice shots of RHP Andy Moye

Our own Brad with a sweet photo gallery from Tuesday's Rattlers win.

Manatees starting pitcher Jacob Barnes (2-0, 1.08) left the game with two outs in the fifth inning with an undisclosed injury. The righty was spectacular before being forced to leave. He allowed one unearned run on one hit over 4.2 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out four. Follow-up tweets: Barnes hurls in a pitch and suffers apparent discomfort on the left side. Jacob Barnes left in the 5th with an apparent left hip/oblique injury. Looked like something tightened up.

Two Nashville Sounds players headed to the top - together Morris, Gennett reach same levels over the years by Nick Cole, The Tennessean Brewers’ prospects Hunter Morris and Scooter Gennett are one step away from the big leagues — and if history is any indication — they might just make it there together. From Wisconsin to Florida to Alabama to Tennessee, Morris and Gennett have used contrasting styles to move up the Brewers’ minor-league ladder in lockstep since becoming teammates in 2010. Morris is a stout, power-hitting first baseman who earned the Southern League Most Valuable Player award after slugging a league-high 28 home runs last season. Gennett, on the other hand, is a scrappy, 157-pound second baseman who consistently shows a knack for making something exciting happen on the diamond and holds a career batting average north of .300. Together, they have formed one of the better right-sides of the infield in the minor leagues over the past four seasons. Gennett, a 16th-round pick in the 2009 draft out of Sarasota, Fla., chose to forgo the opportunity to play college ball at Florida State to begin a professional career. His first assignment from the Brewers was to join Single-A Wisconsin at the beginning of 2010. It was there that Gennett and Morris met, after a standout junior season at Auburn earned Morris the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Award and made him the fourth-round selection of the Brewers in the 2010 draft. “From day one we have been on that side of the infield together,” Morris said. “It has been fun — we work together all the time, we get along great, and there is definitely a good relationship there. I think we learn a lot from each other as we go.” After that opening season in Wisconsin, the two moved together to Advanced-A Brevard County in 2011 and also made the full-time jump to Double-A Huntsville in 2012. The familiarity with each other developed in those seasons leaves Gennett and Morris with a sounding board for frustration and a place to turn when things aren’t going well on the field. “We try to steer each other in the right direction,” Morris said. “He tells me things I can do better based on what he sees that I don’t see and vice versa. I try to tell him things when he starts rushing or trying to do too much in the field or at the plate or whatever it is. I’m just going to tell him: ‘This is how it is when you are going good’ and he does the same for me.” But perhaps the bigger on-field advantage to the relationship is the ability to know exactly what the other is going to do defensively without uttering a word. “You get an advantage when you get into a situation where it is more instinctual,” Gennett said. “Because you kind of know what the other is going to do before it happens. That always gives you an edge as an infielder.” “We are so comfortable with each other now, we don’t even have to communicate anymore,” Morris added. “I know which balls he is going to get and which ones he is not. So I know which ones I know I need to go for and I know the ones that he has gotten to a hundred times before, so I can just get back to the bag and be ready for the throw.” Moving levels of competition at the same time has its advantages, too. Changing minor-league teams often involves an adjustment to new teammates, coaches, stadiums, living conditions, weather and level of competition, but the two have experienced that together. “Whenever you are thrown into a new environment, to have somebody that you are familiar with and comfortable with is huge,” Gennett said. “A lot of times guys don’t get that. I guess we are fortunate that we have progressed together and are able to feel comfortable no matter what situation we go into.” The newest assignment is with Triple-A Nashville this season, one step away from their ultimate goal of a big-league career in Milwaukee. Both guys have experienced a varied level of success in their first three weeks on the job in the Music City, as Gennett leads the Sounds in batting average and Morris leads the team in extra-base hits. But both are quick to say the game is much different at the highest level the minor leagues has to offer. “Everybody now really has a sense of what is going on,” Gennett said of Triple-A. “Guys are doing the right things in each situation. You don’t have guys taking those big swings when the situation calls for getting a runner over, you know, you just see more things in situations that you didn’t see as much at the other levels.” Said Morris: “I think the biggest difference is the way that pitchers understand hitters and the game of baseball at this level. Pitchers really have a plan and see holes in swings a lot quicker. It’s not necessarily just guys with great stuff just rearing back and challenging hitters, it is much more of a finesse mentality to go along with really good stuff, so it’s definitely an adjustment to be made.” “It only gets tougher from here, so it is good to be seeing it now and learning how to make those adjustments.” Hunter Morris, left, and Scooter Gennett have played on the same side of the infield since being on the same Single-A team. / Larry McCormack, The Tennessean http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20130424&Category=SPORTS04&ArtNo=304240127&Ref=AR&MaxW=300&Border=0&Two-Nashville-Sounds-players-headed-top-together

We don't know how long RHP Arcenio Leon will be out, but with no obvious choice as a 6th starter on the Stars' roster (R.J. Seidel, perhaps), we'll see if this is purely a one-time "bullpen day" or an opportunity for one of the more exciting LH arms in the system in Alan Williams to get stretched out. *** Thoughts about Brevard/Tampa -- Soon-to-be 21-year-old Yankees OF Ben Gamel (Mat's brother) has posted nice career numbers and is obviously young for high-A. Yikes, SS Yadiel Rivera is in a horrendous fielding slump. No organizational move screams out more than bumping Wisconsin OF Mitch Haniger to Brevard, returning OF John Dishon to a utility OF role with the Manatees. It would also free up Jose Pena to join Wisconsin. *** Video of Jeff Bianchi's home run for Nashville in Monday's loss

Stars Drop Second Straight By Alex Cohen, Huntsville Stars After winning the first two games of their series against the Birmingham Barons, the Huntsville Stars have now dropped two straight at Regions Field, losing by a score of 5-1 on Tuesday night. For the second night in a row, the Stars were shut down by the Barons starting pitching. Much like on Monday night with Birmingham starting pitcher Erik Johnson, it was righty Scott Snodgress who had his way the Huntsville offense on Tuesday. The 9th ranked prospect in the White Sox organization pitched seven strong innings, giving up just a run and seven hits in the process while striking out five to improve to 3-1 on the year. Barons relievers Santos Rodriguez and Salvador Sanchez combined to shut out the Stars offense through the final two innings of the game. The only blemish on the night for Snodgress was a sixth inning solo homer given up to Stars first baseman Jason Rogers, a run that accounted for the only offense for Huntsville the entire night. Rogers paced the Stars offense by going 3-for-3 with a walk and finishing just a single away from the cycle. Second basemen Nick Shaw also added two hits. In regards to the Stars, starting pitcher Andy Moye took the hard-pressed loss, falling to 1-1 on the year after giving up two runs on four hits over five innings. Moye gave up both runs in the second inning when Barons left fielder Jared Mitchell crushed a two-run homer well over the center field wall. The 25-year-old righty also struck out six batters without walking anybody in a losing effort. After Moye exited the game before the sixth inning, righty Mark Rogers came into the game for his first MLB rehab appearance with the Stars. The Brewer pitched a scoreless frame, giving up a hit and a walk while just throwing 17 pitches (10 strikes). Once Rogers left the game, Birmingham tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for some insurance off of Stars reliever Greg Holle. The inning was highlighted by a two-run single by first basemen Andy Wilkins and an RBI single from designated hitter Dan Black. The loss for the Stars was their second in a row after winning four straight away from Joe Davis Stadium. With each team winning two games so far in this series, the Stars and Barons will play the rubbermatch of their five-game set at Regions Field on Wednesday. Huntsville will send LHP Alan Williams (0-1, 0.87 ERA) to the bump to square off against Birmingham RHP Stephen McCray (2-1, 3.00 ERA). First pitch is at 11:00 AM. For Williams, the start will be the first ever of his professional career. At the conclusion of their five-game series in Birmingham on Monday, the Stars will immediately return home for five games against the Mississippi Braves.

Quick Twitter conversation, Chris may have a post-game update, but to be honest, he may not be at liberty to do so even then. Often we only get injury updates when there's obvious on-field activity, such as a collision, HBP, etc. For all we know, Taylor many not have been feeling well. *** By the way, that game log / Gameday, at least at this time, is out-of-whack (technical issues, not baseball issues).

Nice scouting report / conversation on Jimmy Nelson via FanGraphs (hat tip to BrewCrewBall for the link)

Stars' Nelson in full health Big righty showing repertoire with shoulder woes behind him By Guy Curtright / Special to MLB.com Southern League hitters didn't face the real Jimmy Nelson last year. Now they are not only seeing the Huntsville pitcher at full health, but a new and improved version of the imposing 6-foot-6 right-hander. "I think it was actually a blessing in disguise," Nelson said of his shoulder woes the second half of last season. "I learned to pitch when I didn't have my best stuff, and that has helped me. I also used my changeup a lot more, and now I have another good pitch." The Milwaukee Brewers' No. 9 prospect is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA after four starts for the Stars and leads the Southern League with 26 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings. The most significant stat, though, may be Nelson's walk total of just five. After being promoted from Brevard County of the Class A Advanced Florida State League last June, Nelson walked 37 in 46 innings for Huntsville. "I tried to compensate for my sore shoulder and had trouble repeating my delivery," the husky Nelson said. "I lost my command. Now everything is working in unison again, and I don't have trouble throwing strikes. That's bad news for opposing hitters in 2013, who have managed just a .167 average off the second-round pick in the 2010 Draft. Nelson, 23, admits he may have been giving Double-A hitters more credit than they deserved last year. "I was nit-picking too much," the former University of Alabama standout said. "Now my mentality has changed. I'm using the full width of the plate and going right after hitters." The big issue for Nelson last year, though, was the condition of his shoulder. After posting a 2.21 ERA in 13 starts for Brevard County and making the Florida State League All-Star Game, he arrived in Huntsville with shoulder fatigue. "I wanted to keep pitching, but it was bothering me too much," Nelson said. "I knew I couldn't help the team." Nelson was shut down for a month after three starts for Huntsville. He returned in August and finished 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 10 starts for the Stars. A stint in the Arizona Fall League followed, where Nelson was 2-3 with a 4.91 ERA in seven games. By Spring Training, his shoulder felt 100 percent again and he got a big confidence boost in his only Cactus League outing. Nelson pitched two scoreless innings for the Brewers against Cincinnati on Feb. 25, retiring Joey Votto and Shin-Soo Choo. "A couple of great defense plays really helped me out, but it still made we feel good to know that I could get Major Leaguers out," Nelson said. "It was a great experience." Nelson has a four-seam fastball that reaches the mid-90s and a two-seamer just a little slower with good sink. Combine that with a slider that is tough on right-handed hitters and the developing changeup, and you have a pitcher with the stuff to get hitters out at any level. Nelson just needs to be able to repeat his herky-jerky delivery consistently and throw strikes. Now that his shoulder is healthy, that's no longer such an issue.

Via Jeff Hem's Blog -- Audio from Nashville — “Show Me the (Don) Money!” Today’s interview is with the always-entertaining Don Money, who managed the Sounds from ’09-’11 and has been with the Brewers as a player or a coach for many years. He is currently a roving instructor for the Brewers, and he joined me to discuss his role, the Sounds’ team so far this season, what he misses most (and least) about managing, the best player he ever managed and the joy of getting to tell a player he’s been called up to the major leagues.

Brevard 4/22 audio highlights (lowlights)

Brevard County crushed by Yankees Four errors, 11 walks doom 'Tees in 12-1 thrashing By Andy Towne / Brevard County Manatees TAMPA, Fla. - The Brevard County Manatees scored a run in the top of the first inning but that's all they would get and the 'Tees pitching and defense quickly gave in to the Tampa Yankees on Monday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field in a 12-1 thrashing. Chadwin Stang led off the night with a walk and he would later score on a Nick Ramirez double. Six more hits would be recorded for the Manatees (10-8), but no more runs came across the plate. Both Stang (nine games) and recently-named Florida State League Player of the Week Cameron Garfield (ten games) saw their hitting streaks come to an end. Lance Roenicke though extended his to six games with a single in the fifth inning. The Yankees (9-9) answered the Manatees first inning run, with one of their own in the bottom of the inning and then poured on ten more runs in the next two innings to take an 11-1 lead through three. Each member of the Yankees batting order reached base at least three times, with two innings of ten or more batters even though they combined for just nine hits. Brevard County's pitching staff issued eleven walks and struck out just four hitters, while defensively the 'Tees committed four errors. Manatees starting pitcher David Goforth (1-2, 3.71) struggled out of the gate and had the shortest start of his career as he lasted only 1.2 innings. He was charged with a total of five runs, just three earned, on four hits and two walks with one strikeout. Matt Miller came on in relief and recorded just two outs as he surrendered six runs on three hits and four walks. The back end of the bullpen had better results with Tyler Cravy allowing just one run in 3.1 innings of work. Andre Lamontagne made his season debut after being activated from the disabled list with a scoreless seventh and Tommy Toledo finished with a scoreless eighth. The rubber game of the three-game set between Brevard County and Tampa will be Tuesday night at 7:00 PM (6:00 Central). Jacob Barnes (2-0, 1.50) will get the call for the Manatees, while the Yankees will give the ball to Mikey O'Brien (1-1, 7.71). Tuesday's game will be the last in a seven-game road swing for the 'Tees before an off day Wednesday and the beginning of a three-game series with the Dunedin Blue Jays on Thursday.

Rattler Radio Blog - Comments as well as video highlights

Weather.com: Nashville Birmingham Tampa Appleton (Grand Chute)

Look for Nashville and Wisconsin media notes at the links just prior to their game times. New this season: Brevard County has media notes; as of now, it's a unique link each day, but look for it just prior to game time each day within the "Stats and Scores" banner here.

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.

STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division

Follow Tuesday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin New MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

Tuesday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Frankie De La Cruz at home vs. Omaha (Royals), 10:45 AM pre-game, 11:05 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 $39.99 season-long package ($9.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP Andy Moye at Birmingham (White Sox), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page Alex Cohen is the play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. It appears four Southern League teams air their home games on MiLB.TV, and we'll let you know when those dates pop up on the schedule. ********** Brevard County: RHP Jacob Barnes at Tampa (Yankees), 5:30 PM pre-game, 6:00 PM gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Brevard County feed from the MiLB main audio page Manatees audio, hooray! Dave Walkovic is the first play-by-play voice of the 'Tees since 2007, he's joined by Andy Towne; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio. All home games and many road games are scheduled to be broadcast. When road games are only available via the opponents' audio feed, we'll let you know that. NOTE: Dave indicates that he hopes to include a pre-game interview prior to each game; it's a 30-minute pre-game! We'll fill you in if Brevard masters archiving a la Nashville and/or Helena. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Ryan Gibbard at home vs. Quad Cities (Astros), 11:45 AM pre-game, 12:05 PM 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. MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of four Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV. So for the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games. NOTE: 32 of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel has seventeen games scheduled and WACY-TV My NEW32 plans to show fifteen games. We'll let you know when, but won't be providing day-before DVR reminders, so regularly check for proper channel and time planning (scroll to the bottom of this link).

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Via Jeff Hem's blog -- Audio from Music City — “Mondays with Mike (Guerrero)” It’s a Monday, which always means a chat with Sounds manager Mike Guerrero. Today we discussed the Sounds’ first two games with Omaha, the red-hot Scooter Gennett, the rehabbing Jeff Bianchi and the several left-handed hitters who are trying to heat up while having to face a left-handed starter for six consecutive games.

Reminder -- Monday night's Timber Rattlers game will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports 32, air time is 6:30 PM local time.

Cameron Garfield named FSL Player of the Week ‘Tees catcher hit .310 with four homers from April 15-21 Frank Longobardo, Brevard County Manatees VIERA, Fla. – The Florida State League announced on Monday that Brevard County Manatees catcher Cameron Garfield was named the league’s player of the week for the period of April 15-21. In seven games last week, Garfield hit .310 (8-for-25) with four home runs, seven runs batted in and seven runs scored. Garfield had a .393 on-base percentage and a .800 slugging percentage in those seven games. On April 16, he hit two homers in a win against Lakeland, including a two-run shot that tied the game in the eighth inning. Garfield enters play on Monday, ranked second in the FSL in both home runs (5) and total bases (40). He is also fourth in the league with a .571 slugging percentage. The 21-year-old from San Diego, Calif. currently leads the Manatees with 11 runs scored, 12 RBI and a .873 on-base plus slugging percentage. Garfield is also currently in the midst of a ten-game hitting streak. He is in his fifth professional season and was drafted by Milwaukee out of the Murrieta Valley (Calif.) High School in the second round of the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Additional analysis later tonight... Stars Silenced by Barons By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars After scoring 18 runs during their first two games against the Birmingham Barons, the Stars managed just four hits and a run on Monday afternoon in a 3-1 loss at Regions Field. For the Barons, the story of the game was starting pitcher Erik Johnson. The 4th ranked prospect in the White Sox organization shutout the Stars through seven innings, giving up just three hits while striking out ten hitters and only walking one. The ten punchouts for Johnson was the most for a Barons starting pitcher since Andre Rienzo did so in August of last year against the Stars. Johnson improved to 2-0 on the season with the win. For the Stars, starting pitcher Taylor Jungmann was tabbed with the hard-pressed loss. The 2nd ranked prospect in the Brewers system gave up just one run and five hits over six innings to fall to 1-3 on the year. Jungmann has now not given up a run in nine of his last eleven innings pitched over the last two starts (0-2). The only run that Jungmann gave up was in the second inning. The 23-year-old righty walked designated hitter Andy Wilkins to begin the inning and then give up back-to-back singles to first basemen Dan Black and second basemen Tyler Saladino. One batter later, an RBI groundout from catcher Miguel Gonzalez scored Wilkins to make the score 1-0. Jungmann then got left fielder Michael Earley to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end inning without any further damage. After Jungmann exited before the seventh inning, Stars reliever Santo Manzanillo gave up a run in each of the two innings that he pitched to give the Barons a 3-0 lead going into the ninth inning. For Manzanillo, he has now given up a run in his last three appearances. With Barons reliever Kevin Vance in the game, the Stars mounted their only real rally in the ninth inning. Following three walks to right fielder Kentrail Davis, third baseman Mike Walker and left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard, an RBI single from center fielder Rene Tosoni made the score 3-1 and kept the bases loaded with just one out. Vance then buckled down and got catcher Adam Weisenburger and designated hitter T.J Mittelstaedt to pop up to end the game and earn his first save of the year. On offense, the Stars struck out 11 times in total, their fourth straight game with double-digit punchouts. Huntsville got a hit apiece from Tosoni, Kjeldgaard, Weisenburger and second basemen Nick Shaw. The loss for the Stars snapped their four-game road winning streak and two-game overall winning streak. The Stars and Barons will play game four of their five-game series at Regions Park on Tuesday night. Huntsville will send RHP Andy Moye (1-0, 4.61 ERA) to the bump to square off against Birmingham RHP Scott Snodgress (2-1, 4.24 ERA). First pitch is at 7:05 PM.

Weather.com: Nashville Birmingham Tampa Appleton (Grand Chute)