Jim Goulart

Audio from Nashville — A Chat with Dick Groch Jeff Hem's note -- Tonight’s interview is with Dick Groch, who works in the Milwaukee Brewers’ front office in scouting and player personnel as a special assistant to GM Doug Melvin. Groch has been with the Brewers since ’02 and used to work for the Yankees, where he was responsible for signing Derek Jeter. Groch discusses a few of the positives for the Brewers this year, such as ’12 Sounds like Mike Fiers, Jim Henderson and Martin Maldonado. He also discusses what the Brewers got from the Angels in the Zack Greinke trade (INF Jean Segura and RHPs Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena), how many opinions were sought in the Brewers in the organization before the deal, and, as a scout, where he thinks more about the players he did sign or the ones he didn’t (see Votto, Joey).

Marcum doubts he will be a Brewer past this season by Dan Kohn, Post-Crescent staff writer GRAND CHUTE — Shaun Marcum would like nothing better than to continue pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers beyond this season. But he knows that probably isn’t going to happen. Marcum, who was at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium today in the first of at least two rehab assignments with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, is set to become a free agent after this season. Marcum is scheduled to pitch the first game of today’s doubleheader, set to begin at 5:30 p.m. “The experience has been great,” Marcum said of his time with the Brewers. “Last year is what you play for, a chance to get to the World Series. I’d love to return but I don’t write the checks and I don’t make the offers, so it’s going to be up to them.” The emergence of several pitching prospects, coupled with his arm issues, which began in mid-June, may prevent that from happening. “Everything has been quiet on their end,” Marcum said of a possible extension with the club. “That’s just part of it. They have a lot of young pitchers there and in Triple A. We’ve seen some of them this year with (Mike) Fiers and (Tyler) Thornburg that have good arms and have a chance to do some pretty good things here.” Marcum said he hasn’t thought much about free agency, but knows he needs to get back to form if he is to continue his career. “The free agent route hasn’t really crept into my mind very much,” Marcum said. “Obviously, the injury thing going into free agency, you want to be healthy so when teams come calling there are no questions. But it’s a part of it. Hopefully, there will be someone out there I can sign on with and we’ll see what happens. The main thing for me is I have to finish the season and stay healthy.” Today is the first step in getting back to the big leagues. “Staying healthy,” Marcum said of his goal for his rehab assignments. “Just going out there and pitching and getting back to my normal routine. Throwing strikes, getting ahead of hitters and working on a couple of things mechanically that is going to help me stay healthy and stay on the field. “I’ll have one more start, I believe with these guys, then kind of see where I’m at pitch-count-wise to see if I need a third one. We’ll see where I am after that start.” Although his elbow has been a problem, it appears to be sound. “It’s frustrating. Injuries are part of the game,” Marcum said. “You have to find a way to fight through them. It just happened this year to be the elbow that I recently had surgery on. Everything showed up in the MRIs being fine and OK. “It’s just a matter of getting out all the soreness. We’ve been able to get it all out of there. Now it’s just a matter of getting out there and competing, getting my pitch count up there so I can get out there and start competing and help the Milwaukee Brewers the rest of the season.” And although the Brewers are well out of the playoff race, Marcum still holds out slim hope Milwaukee can still get on a run, especially since the team is getting healthy. “It’s been frustrating,” Marcum said of the season. “But at the same time, we have a good group of guys down there. It’s not for a lack of effort that we’ve lost games. Everybody is busting their butt day in and day out and we’ve been in a lot of games. You take half of those games we’ve blown, that we’ve lost after the seventh and eighth innings and we’re just three or four games out of first place right now. “That’s part of baseball. We still have a lot of baseball left. We saw what St. Louis did last year in the month of September and we still have a couple of extra weeks more than they had, so we still have a chance to make a run. We just have to keep playing ball the way we did those past three games against Cincinnati.”

Wisconsin Media Notes

Huge series this weekend for Huntsville and Brevard County, little room for losing streaks the rest of the way. Manatees play firstplace Yankees, they are currently four games out. *** Nashville Media Notes

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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 Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division Rookie - Arizona Summer League DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris Division *** NOTE: AAA Nashville, Rookie Maryvale and the DSL do not play a split schedule. When you click on a standings link for Huntsville, Brevard County, Wisconsin, and/or Helena, you'll then be able to choose 1st half and/or overall standings in addition to the current 2nd half standings.

Follow Friday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin Game One Wisconsin Game Two Helena DSL Brewers

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF! All times are Central Nashville: RHP Claudio Vargas at home vs. Salt Lake (Angels), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link Jeff Hem is the new 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). We imagine the audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP Josh Stinson at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page Alex Cohen is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. It's fantastic that Huntsville is returning to what will be a traditional broadcast format this year. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. MiLB.TV subsciption note: Huntsville road games in four locales (Mississippi, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Pensacola) will be broadcast. ********** Brevard County: RHP Nick Bucci at home vs. Tampa (Yankees), 5:35 PM gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Tampa feed from the MiLB main audio page Once again this season, Brevard does not have its own audio coverage. It appears two teams in the Manatees North Division (within which the majority of games are played) have audio, and all six teams in the South Division have audio (at least for their home games), so there will be opportunities to listen to approx. 70% or Brevard's games this season, just all from the opponent's perspective. There are no Florida State League games on MiLB.TV this year. ********** Wisconsin: First, it's RHP Shaun Marcum in his first rehab start at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), followed by RHP Mark Williams in the doubleheader nightcap, 5:15 PM pre-game, 5:35 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings 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 only two (Great Lakes) Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV; Chris' call provides the audio. So for the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, all Timber Rattlers home games, and Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, plus one July Helena series (11th-13th). ********** Helena: RHP Tyler Wagner at home vs. Great Falls (White Sox), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Helena feed from the MiLB main audio page We're lucky to have Steve Wendt back on board for another H-Crew season. ********** Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): Idle ********** DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Angels, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until late afternoon at the earliest

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Huntsville Media Notes

The Car Survivor story from Buck Rogers: Steven 'Frog' Hudson outsat, outplayed and outlasted Gabrielle Guthrie and three other contestants to be crowned Car Survivor 3 winner late Thursday night. The contest began at 7:03 pm on Wednesday, August 1st, and officially ended at 10:12 pm last night (eight days, three hours and nine minutes). Although the weather was almost ideal, causing little inconvenience for this year's contestants, in the end it was a rules violation that was confirmed by a judge and a security camera that ended the contest. Rules state that except for (security reasons) personal items such as wallets, purses, car keys, etc, no items can exit the car once inside and even those personal items items must be carried in and out on breaks by the individuals. Last night Gabby absentmindedly reached into her purse and handed out cigarettes before a break. She was planning on showering using a garden hose on her next break, only minutes away and wanted to make certain that her personal items didn't get wet. The violation was observed and confirmed by security cameras. The contestants were told that the contest was over and Frog was declared the winner. The pair had just caught their second wind earlier in the day and it looked like that the contest would go another week. It was the first Car Survivor contest to end on a rules violation. Both Frog and Gabby are residents of Decatur, AL. To see snippets of this year's contest, go to www.carsurvivor.com. Rock On!

Not sure why Dunedin RHP Sean Nolin (9-0 this year) departed after just three innings, but he was a former Brewer draft pick (50th round, 2008) who has had a nice career thus far and at 22, remains age-appropriate for the FSL.

Final: Arizona Indians 7, Arizona Brewers 2 Box Score RHP Francisco Rivero with his third scoreless rehab appearance, still only at one inning, however; 2012 9th round Florida high schooler Alex Lavendero has had a rough go of it in Maryvale -- here's how his 2nd inning went: AZL Indians Top of the 2nd Pitching Change: Alejandro Lavandero replaces Francisco Rivero. Anthony Santander singles on a fly ball to center fielder Edgardo Rivera. With Martin Cervenka batting, throwing error by Alejandro Lavandero on the pickoff attempt, Anthony Santander to 2nd. With Martin Cervenka batting, Anthony Santander steals (5) 3rd base. Martin Cervenka walks. Nick Hamilton walks. Martin Cervenka to 2nd. Juan Herrera walks. Anthony Santander scores. Martin Cervenka to 3rd. Nick Hamilton to 2nd. Joshua McAdams singles on a line drive to left fielder Jose Garcia. Martin Cervenka scores. Nick Hamilton scores. Juan Herrera to 2nd. D'vone McClure pops out to second baseman Jose Sermo. Claudio Bautista singles on a ground ball to third baseman Taylor Smith-Brennan. Juan Herrera to 3rd. Joshua McAdams to 2nd. Pitching Change: Juan Francisco replaces Alejandro Lavandero. Dorssys Paulino grounds into a force out, third baseman Taylor Smith-Brennan to catcher Dustin Houle. Juan Herrera out at home. Joshua McAdams to 3rd. Claudio Bautista to 2nd. Dorssys Paulino to 1st. Nelson Rodriguez strikes out swinging. 21-year-old two-year DSL'er Juan Francisco gutted out 4.2 just to save the bullpen somewhat, but it was undrafted free agent Ryan Fasano who finished up with three scoreless (no walks, four K's). We referred to Dustin Houle's apparent injury departure earlier in the thread. Leadoff CF Edgardo Rivero stole his 6th base in seven tries. Rivero is sporting a .414 OBP. RF 2B Jose Sermo remains intriguing, but he should be doing well as a 22-year-old college pick, although a 35th rounder. Jose Pena (.220 over his last ten games, still hanging in above .300 at .304), but committed his 7th (!) error in RF, this one on a throw. Free Joe Andrade. Game Log

Brewers fall; scoreless streak now at 19 innings by Amber Kuehn, Helena Independent Record Jared Ray was greeted by a congratulatory mob when he exited the game in the seventh inning. The high-fives and pats on the back from his teammates in the Missoula Osprey bullpen were well deserved, after the starting pitcher threw seven shutout innings of four-hit ball. Chris Thomas and Justin Thompson finished off the Helena Brewers from there, in a 3-0 Missoula victory Thursday at Kindrick Legion Field. The Brewers brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth as they’ve done so many times this season, but failed to score for the 19th straight inning. After a pair of two-out singles by Adam Giacalone and Emmanuel Quiles, Thompson got Raul Mondesi Jr. to ground out and seal the series win for the Osprey. Ray had a one-hitter through three frames and credited his catcher Michael Perez for helping him pick up his third win of the season. “This is my fifth time to face Helena this year so I got with Perez. He’s real smart about recognizing hitters and stuff like that,” the right-hander said. “He called a good game. It’s easy when you’re able to get in a groove and you and your catcher are on the same page.” Brewers starter Leonard Lorenzo was equally brilliant, showing good command of his fastball and breaking ball in striking out a dozen Osprey batters through six. He took the loss after giving up one run on five hits. The Helena pitching staff matched a season-high with 15 strikeouts, but failed to get any help from the offense for the second straight night. The Brewers finished with seven hits in the contest, but were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. They were 0 for 7 in that situation the previous contest. “We had a game plan going into it,” Ray said. “…It’s a matter of knowing the guys that are hot and recognizing which guys you can be more careful with and that type of thing.” Second baseman Daniel Pulfer was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a double to spearhead the Missoula offense. Giacalone and Quiles were the only Helena players with multiple hits, and Kevin Berard’s double was the only one that went for extra bases. Lorenzo fanned 10 batters before the Osprey ever got on the board. After Pedro Ruiz singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Jake Lamb brought him home with a double to right field. Missoula added two more insurance runs in the late innings against reliever Taylor Mangum. It might have been 4-0, if not for a fine defensive play by center fielder Michael Reed. Reed gunned down Pulfer at home plate for the final out in the top of the ninth. The Osprey remain just one game behind Billings in the Pioneer League North Division second-half standings, and take on the Mustangs tonight in Missoula. Helena opens a two-game set against first-half champion Great Falls, which has struggled to a 1-11 mark this half. The Voyagers were also shut out Thursday night.

Sounds' Eric Farris awaits Brewers' call by Nick Cole, The Tennessean Second baseman Eric Farris has been called up by the Milwaukee Brewers twice in the past two seasons, but has only one major league at-bat to show for it. Hitting .340 in the Nashville Sounds’ past 44 games and recording a base hit in 36 of those games has put Farris in position to be a call-up when the major-league active rosters expand to 40 players on Sept. 1. “I try not to think too far ahead,” said Farris, who is hitting .281 for the season. “I just try to get my job done here and play as well as I can. Hopefully, when the time comes, the big team will give me an opportunity.” Farris, a fourth-round selection of the Brewers in the 2007 draft, is fourth in the Pacific Coast League with 30 steals. “That’s definitely a big part of my game,” Farris said. “I’m not going to hit for much power, so when I get on base I like to cause as much havoc as I can.” Farris has stolen as many as 70 bases in a season, needing 124 games with Class A-Advanced Brevard County to accomplish the feat in 2009. The infielder is also known for his defense, leading all PCL second basemen with a .988 fielding percentage. In Baseball America’s 2011 “best tools survey,” he was voted as the best defensive second baseman in the PCL. Back home: The Sounds have returned home to Nashville after going 4-4 on the West Coast. With stops in Fresno and Sacramento, the trip served as a homecoming for several Sounds players who call California home. First baseman Sean Halton, a Fresno native, returned to play at home for the first time in his professional career. “It was a good road trip for me to play back in front of my hometown fans,” Halton said. “I got to see a bunch of people that haven’t got to see me play in a while, and even some people that haven’t got to see me play yet in pro ball.” Farris was born in Sacramento and still lives there in the offseason. “I spent some time with my grandmother, went to a couple of restaurants I enjoy,” Farris said of his time at home. “It was really nice. It had been years since I had been at home in Sacramento in the summer.” Outfielder Logan Schafer, who lives in Los Gatos, Calif., was able to make his way home for one night despite more than a two-hour drive from the ballpark. “Any time you can spend a night at home its nice. You get to recharge your batteries a little,” Schafer said. “But still, it’s only one night.” After missing 10 games because of a knee injury, Schafer returned to the lineup Tuesday and scored the winning run in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win over Sacramento.

ViewFinder: Man inside Fang loves his job Nice story, wonderful video, enjoy...

Missoula wins pitcher's duel over Helena Helena Brewers Despite a strong performance from starter Leonard Lorenzo, the Missoula Osprey escaped Helena with a 3-0 win and the series victory on Thursday evening. The win pushes Missoula's record to 27-23 and drops the Brewers to 17-33. Lorenzo was dominant Thursday at Kindrick Legion Field. The right hander allowed just five hits and one walk through six innings of work. Lorenzo also struck out a career high 12 hitters and on three different occasions struck out the side. The performance improved the Dominican's ERA to 4.28, but the loss dropped him to 2-5 on the season. Not to be outdone, Missoula starter Jared Ray threw seven scoreless innings allowing just four Brewers hitters to reach base. The victory bumped Ray's record to 3-4 and dropped his ERA to 3.52. Even though the Brewers offense had been kept at bay throughout the evening, the Brew Crew mounted a late charge in the bottom of the ninth against Justin Thompson. With two outs, hot hitting Adam Giacalone singled. The next hitter, Emmanuel Quiles, then did the same and Raul Mondesi Jr. came to the plate representing the tying run. Unfortunately for the home crowd, Mondesi would ground out to first to end the game. The Brewers will face the Great Falls Voyagers in game one of a two game set Friday night at Kindrick Legion Field. First pitch is slated for 7:05 (8:05 Central). Leonard Lorenzo recorded twelve strikeouts over six innings on Thursday. http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/09/5xRKtag9.jpg

SMOKIES EVEN UP SERIES WITH STARS KODAK, Tenn. – While they were able to make things interesting in the ninth inning by putting the potential game-tying run on base, the Huntsville Stars fell to the Tennessee Smokies by a score of 5-3 on Thursday night at Smokies Park. In his third start in a Huntsville Stars uniform, starting pitcher Ariel Pena struggled on the mound. On the first pitch he threw, Smokies right fielder Matt Szczur blasted a home run over the left field wall to give Tennessee an early 1-0 lead. After the Stars tied up the ballgame in the top half of the fourth with an RBI double by center fielder Josh Prince, the Smokies took control of the game in the bottom half of the frame. A leadoff walk by third baseman Matt Cerda and a walk by Szczur brought runners on first and third with one out. After an RBI single by second baseman Logan Watkins scored Cerda, first baseman Justin Bour hit a RBI single two batters later to plate Szczur, putting Tennessee up by two. Watkins then scored on a throwing error by Pena on that same play to give Tennessee a 4-1 lead. That lead was plenty for Smokies pitcher Nick Struck. After replacing RHP Lendy Castillo, in his second Major League rehab appearance for the Smokies, in the second inning, Struck stifled the Stars bats through eight innings, giving up just two hits and one run for his league-leading 13th win on the season. Trailing by a score of 5-1, the Stars made it interesting in the ninth inning. With Smokies reliever Frank Batista in the ballgame, an RBI single from second baseman Scooter Gennett and an RBI groundout by Prince got the Stars to within two. With runners on first and second and two outs, the Smokies brought in reliever Brian Schlitter to finish off the game and face pinch-hitter Brock Kjeldgaard. Unfortunately for Kjeldgaard, he wouldn’t have a chance to put the ball in play. On an attempted double-steal, Smokies catcher Chad Noble threw out right fielder Kentrail Davis trying to swipe second to end the ballgame. Offensively, the Stars were led by second basemen Gennett, who went 3-for-3 with a double and a RBI for his fifth consecutive multi-hit game. Shortstop Hainley Statia also had two hits, recording his second straight multi-hit game. The Stars and Smokies will play game three of their five-game series starting at 6:15 p.m. CST on Friday. RHP Josh Stinson will take the ball for the Stars.

AUDIO: Undrafted Helena RHP Taylor Mangum chats with Steve

Full Maryvale write-up from a Linker later this AM, but this note for now -- AZL Indians Top of the 6th D'vone McClure hits a ground-rule double (2) on a fly ball to right-center field. With Claudio Bautista batting, throwing error by Juan Francisco on the pickoff attempt, D'vone McClure to 3rd. Claudio Bautista pops out to shortstop Renaldo Jenkins. Dorssys Paulino doubles (11) on a fly ball to left fielder Jose Garcia. D'vone McClure scores. Defensive Substitution: Joe Andrade replaces catcher Dustin Houle, batting 5th, playing catcher. Nelson Rodriguez strikes out swinging and Dorssys Paulino caught stealing 3rd, catcher Joe Andrade to third baseman Taylor Smith-Brennan. *** Houle exits after a play at the plate.

Healthy Garfield a prospect again Brewers’ farmhand looks like he has bright future By Josh Flickinger, Beloit Daily News staff writer Cameron Garfield had a very simple goal as he completed his rehabilitation from knee surgery this spring: once he was allowed to be back on the field, stay off the disabled list. That may seem modest for the former second-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, but with the way the catcher’s career has gone, his goal was not only realistic, it might have been considered lofty. Garfield injured his knee early in the 2011 season. When he was in Arizona rehabbing the injury, he ended up re-injuring it, causing him to have surgery. In all he played just 15 games of the season due to the knee injury and he was sidelined into the 2012 season. He was finally cleared to begin playing games in late April and after a month of time in extended spring training, he joined the Timber Rattlers in late May. “Especially after last season, I just wanted to be able to contribute to the team and be consistent throughout the season,” Garfield said. “It’s definitely a good feeling to be able to stay healthy and put together at-bats.” Garfield is hitting .282, with nearly half of his hits going for extra bases. The power potential he flashed in high school, but was not apparent in his first couple of pro seasons, has been prominent in 2012. His two home runs Monday night against the Beloit Snappers at Pohlman Field brought his total up to eight, double his career high, in just 156 at-bats. Rattlers manager Matt Erickson believes that the future is bright for the San Diego native. “I’m excited for him,” Erickson said. “I had him a few years ago when I was the hitting coach, and you could see the potential that he had then. This year he’s getting some opportunities to play more consistently, and he’s putting up some numbers. If he can stay healthy, he’ll continue to progress and get better. He’s a kid that you cheer for and get excited about.” A major question facing Garfield is whether he can stick long-term at the catcher spot. The fact the Brewers have developed two solid major league catchers in Jonathan Lucroy and Martin Maldanado (originally an Angels farmhand) gives Garfield hope for his future behind the dish as well. “I’ve come a long way from when they signed me, and (catching instructor) Charlie Greene is a big reason for that,” Garfield said. “That being said, there’s a lot more room for improvement, too. I take a lot of pride in working with the pitching staff, and feel like their ERA is my ERA, too.” Erickson made no bones about the fact that Garfield’s work behind the dish needs to get better. “It’s a work in progress,” Erickson said. “He battles back there and he’s certainly not afraid to get dirty. He’s an excellent blocker, and he’s getting better at calling the game too. The arm has been a question. When he first came up here, he had a nice arm, but inconsistent. He’s getting a little better with his footwork, but he’s going to need to continue to improve there.” With the Timber Rattlers already in the playoffs by virtue of their first-half title, there isn’t much pressure the team feels from glancing at the standings. Garfield says that has been a little challenging. “It’s really hard right now,” he said. “We are just really trying to focus on each game instead of looking at the bigger picture, but we have been ready to start the playoffs now for a long time.” Garfield comes from a military family and was born in Germany. Although he only stayed there a short time before heading to the United States, he still has plenty of family in the country and might even receive an opportunity to represent Germany in international competition. “The German National team just gave me a call and they want me to play for them in the qualifiers of the World Baseball Classic,” he said. “That’s right after the season, and it’s actually in Germany. I still have to talk with the Brewers about it, but I’d love to play.” After many difficult days filled with long hours of rehab, things finally seem to be coming together for Garfield.

Shaun Marcum and the Rattlers get rained out, doubleheader at 5:35 Friday -- awaiting word on TWC Sports 32's plans for broadcast.

Bob Brainerd's latest sports32.com Timber Rattlers profile is on OF Ben McMahan.

Getting To Know The 2012 Sounds: Outfielder Khris Davis

“Henderson! The police are here, and by the way …” The story quickly making the internet rounds...