Jim Goulart

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 Pioneer League North Division DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris Division

Follow Wednesday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Brevard County Helena DSL Brewers

Wednesday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Seth McClung at home vs. Oklahoma City (Astros), 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: Idle until Thursday for the All-Star break ********** Brevard County: RHP Brooks Hall at Lakeland (Tigers), 5:30 PM gametime Sorry, no audio available for this series... 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: Idle until Friday for the All-Star break ********** Helena: RHP Eric Semmelhack out of UW-Milwaukee makes his professional debut at 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 (Maryvale): The A-Crew's season begins Thursday ********** DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Blue Jays, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until late afternoon at the earliest

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Bob Brainerd's latest Rattlers feature profile - 1B/LF/DH Jason Rogers Bob does a nice job with these articles...

Watch Helena's Chris McFarland's triple among the game highlights here.

Southern League All-Star Game an 'awesome experience' for Stars' Hunter Morris By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times Hunter Morris, the Stars' first Huntsville-born player, started in Tuesday's Southern League All-Star Game and participated in the Home Run Derby. Morris shared his reflections on the All-Star Game and other matters with Times columnist Mark McCarter. KODAK, Tenn. - It was an awesome experience being out here. I had a great time with it. Obviously I wish I could have done a little better at the plate (0-for-2) but not the end of the world. I had a fun with it. Now I'll rest up for a few hours and get the second half of the season started. I actually knew a decent number of the other guys on the team. Playing first base, I get to talk to most of them during the season. The position players anyway. It's a great group of guys. I didn't get to know as many of them as well as I'd like to, but hopefully this isn't the last time I'll see them at something like this. Physically, I felt fine after the Home Run Derby. I got there and put a lot of pressure on myself to get started. It was a little taxing taking six outs before you get one out and try to regroup. It took more out of me mentally than physically. Then they asked me to do the color commentary on the PA system. I had fun with that. I think it adds life to the game, and I think the fans liked it. I think more other guys should do that. I did a home run derby in the fall for Tim Hudson's charity foundation in Auburn. I had a great time there. Tim's a great guy, had a good group of guys to compete with. Guys like Gabe Gross, Kevin Patterson, David Ross, guys I had played with, guys who had been with Auburn before me. I'd love to do this one along with Tim Hudson's and anybody who wants to invite me to another one along the road. After Sunday's ballgame in Huntsville, we heard Tyler (Thornburg, Stars pitcher) was going to come up here for the All-Star Game, then drive over to Nashville and join the Triple-A team. Then we found out he was starting in Milwaukee (Tuesday) night. I'm happy for him. I'm excited for him to get that opportunity. Everybody knows he's got a great career ahead of him. I'm glad to see him get started this early. I talked to him Monday right before we started the off-the-field activities here. He was getting ready to fly up there. We did a charity mini-golf tournament and had a lot of fun with that Monday. I actually did OK. I think I shot like a 32 and I had six or seven hole-in-ones. I putted it pretty well. Better than I do in my normal golf game. We had a dinner at Neyland Stadium, which is pretty cool. As an Auburn guy, I'm obviously not a Tennessee fan, but being in one of the skyboxes for one of the biggest football stadiums in the country, it's cool. If you appreciate college football, you have to appreciate that. I'm going to try to play golf (today) whether we go back early and I try to play when we get home, or maybe let my wife and son sleep in and get nine in over by the hotel and try to have something of an off-day. Sunday turned out great with the bobblehead doll of me holding my son Tripp. Buck Rogers (Stars general manager) and Jill (Cacic, media relations director) did a great job putting that together and promoting it. Some of the guys gave me a hard time, but they really liked it too. They thought it was one of the cooler ones they'd ever seen. For me, it was exciting to know that once my son Tripp gets a little older and he understands, he's probably the only 1-year-old to have his own bobblehead, and with the impact that my family has on me in the game of baseball, that's one thing I treasure. First baseman Hunter Morris, right, with pitcher Evan Anundsen http://media.al.com/huntsville-times/photo/2012/06/11140963-large.jpg

Huntsville Times All-Star Player Photo Gallery (from when they learned of their selections)

A year removed from tough season, Stars' Jesus Sanchez appears in Southern League All-Star Game By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times KODAK, Tennessee - This time a year ago, Jesus Sanchez was on a lake. He and some friends rented a boat when he had the three-day midseason break. "It was a rough year," said the Huntsville Stars right-hander from Venezuela. "I wasn't doing good. I think I needed a break. I just wanted to hang around friends and not think about baseball." Sanchez smiled, then added, "To be honest, I like it better this year." Sanchez was one of three Huntsville Stars participating in the Southern League All-Star Game Tuesday, a game in which their North squad lost to the South 6-2 in front of an announced crowd of 5,406. That's well below the record 7,782 set in Huntsville in 2010. The South's victory was its first in eight games since the league went to a North-South alignment in 2005. Sanchez allowed a misplayed flyball that landed for a double, but struck out the other two batters he faced in the eighth inning. "I was relaxed," he said. "It was nice to have fun with the other guys and make new friends." Hunter Morris, after a slow start, cracked four homers in the Home Run Derby; another was a borderline fair-foul call. It wasn't enough to advance to the finals. In two at-bats in the game, he had a strikeout and popout. Second baseman Scooter Gennett was 0-for-4. Tyler Thornburg, who won his first eight decisions, was also chosen to the team but learned on Monday that he had been promoted to the major leagues. He started for the Brewers on Tuesday night, allowing seven hits and five runs in 5 1/3 innings. he got no decision. Evan Anundsen, the fifth Stars selection, was put on the disabled list last week and was unable to participate. He did attend the festivities and the game. Jackson's Denny Almonte, who struggled during the home run derby, put the North on top with a leadoff homer in the first. "I thought, 'All right, we're going to score some runs," said North manager Buddy Bailey of the Tennessee Smokies. "But that didn't happen. Good pitching always beats good hitting. And their pitching was better than our hitting." Former Jacksonville State star Todd Cunningham, a Mississippi outfielder, singled home a run to spark a three-run South second, then Mobile's David Nick led off the third with a triple and scored on a wild throw. Teammate Matt Davidson was hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI single by the Bay Bears' Alfredo Marte for a 5-1 lead. Marte, going 2-for-2 with an RBI and run scored, was named MVP. All-Star notes Three finalists, whose names have not been made public, have been chosen to fill the vacancy of Southern League president. Since the retirement last fall of the late Don Mincher, the spot has been filled on an interim basis by Steve DeSalvo. ... Participation in this game is obviously no guarantee for future success, but 14 players who were in the 2011 game have appeared in the major leagues this season. ... The home run derby winner was Jackson's Joe Dunigan, edging Tennessee's Justin Bour in the championship round. ... The 2013 All-Star Game has been awarded to Jacksonville in July 2013. Some officials were opposed to that late date, which comes after the second half has started, since many top prospects will have already earned promotions. ... The tentative 2013 schedule was given to teams, but it must go through several layers of tweaking and approval before it becomes final.

Scooter Gennett audio interview with Joe Block on the Brewers' pre-game

37th round SS Taylor Brennan signs, out of Edmonds Community College in Washington State, spurns a commitment to Oregon State for the Crew.

Audio from Nashville — “Mondays with Mike (Guerrero)”…on a Tuesday due to yesterday’s day off Jeff Hem's note -- Here is this week’s installment of “Mondays with Mike” with Sounds manager Mike Guerrero, though it comes on a Tuesday because the Sounds had the day off Monday. This week Guerrero talks about off days in the minors, the rehab assignments to the Sounds for Brewers infielders Cesar Izturis and Travis Ishikawa, the Sounds’ solid starting pitching lately (7 straight games where the starter hasn’t allowed more than 2ER), the continued great hitting of Logan Schafer, where to place certain guys in the batting order and Wily Peralta’s start last Sunday.

Mobile's Alfredo Marte MVP as South wins Southern League All-Star Game Gennett, Morris, Sanchez...

Brewers bounce back with victory vs. Voyagers By AMBER KUEHN Independent Record After Monday night’s loss to Great Falls, the Helena Brewers spoke of striking out less, manufacturing more runs and putting the ball in play in two-out situations. The pep talk seems to have worked. The Brewers recorded five two-out RBIs Tuesday at Kindrick Legion Field, taking advantage of timely hitting in a 10-8 win over the Voyagers for their first Pioneer League victory of the young season. Great Falls mounted a comeback in the eighth inning, scoring three runs against reliever Connor Whalen, but the southpaw struck out four straight batters and got Bryce Mosier to ground out to end the game. Helena manager Jeff Isom was pleased with his team’s aggressive mentality following the win, which featured 14 hits and just one error for the hosts. “The guys did a nice job tonight,” Isom said. “We’re trying to be aggressive, that’s the Milwaukee Brewer style.” That was evident early on. When Brewers players Chris McFarland and Raul Mondesi Jr. recorded triples in the first and second innings, each took big leads off third, teasing Voyagers starter Thomas Royse. McFarland’s panned out, as he was able to come home on a fielding error by the visitors to tie the game. Helena’s big inning came in the fourth, trailing 4-2. Alfredo Rodriguez and Mondesi came home on a McFarland single to tie the game, and McFarland advanced to third on Great Falls’ fourth error of the game. Following Adam Giacalone’s strikeout, Michael Garza smashed a two-out, RBI double to left field to give the Brewers their first lead of the game. By the end of the inning the hosts were up 7-4, and Garza made it a four-run advantage in the sixth with a solo shot to left field for Helena’s first home run of the season. “It was a change-up following a fastball, the guy made a pretty good pitch,” Garza said of Zach Isler’s offering. “It felt pretty good when I made contact, but you just never know until it gets over the fence.” Garza’s professional career has gotten off to a strong start. The 20th-round pick out of Georgetown was 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle Tuesday night, after going 2 for 4 in Monday’s season opener. So far, Kindrick has been kind to the 22-year-old third baseman. “It’s a great field,” he said. “When you’re playing at home it’s always nice because you have the crowd behind you.” The stands were speckled with 735 fans who braved the chilly weather and 18-mph winds. They witnessed a shaky start by Brewers starter Mike Schaub, who struggled with his command early on, but the crowd came alive during the fourth-inning rally. They cheered loudly when Mondesi made a diving stop on a line drive in right field, and when Whalen worked out of a jam late, the Brewer faithful filled the silence with steady claps. “Whalen might have given up a few runs but he did a nice job of pitching himself out of it,” Isom said of the southpaw, who earned his first save after letting the Voyagers crawl back within one. Reliever Michael White got the win, with just one earned run and two hits through 2.2 innings of work. The right-hander also walked three. Royse suffered the loss for Great Falls (1-1). The Brewers will look to make it two in a row when they meet the Voyagers again tonight, this time at Great Falls’ Centene Stadium. Photo Gallery

Nashville Media Notes

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 2nd Half Standings A - Midwest League Western Division Pioneer League North Division DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris Division

Follow the rest of Tuesday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Southern League All-Star Game Midwest League All-Star Game Helena DSL Brewers

Here's the rest of Tuesday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Claudio Vargas at home vs. Oklahoma City (Astros), 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: Idle until Thursday for the All-Star break; the Stars were initially set to be represented in tonight's All-Star Game by five players -- first baseman and Huntsville native Hunter Morris, second baseman Scooter Gennett and pitchers Tyler Thornburg, Evan Anundsen and Jesus Sanchez. Mr. Thornburg will be occupied elsewhere however (Miller Park), and Evan is on the DL with what he terms a very minor injury, so look for Morris, Gennett, and Sanchez in the box score. Morris and Gennett are both in the starting lineup. The game will be played just outside of Knoxville in Kodak, Tennessee at Smokies Park, home of the Cubs' club at 6:15 PM Central, and MiLB.com has a preview and updated rosters here. There is a home run contest at 5:00 PM in which Morris will compete. Via Mark McCarter of the Huntsville Times: The Stars delegation will be on a North team that has a considerable win streak going. Since the Southern League was realigned from an East-West to North-South divisional format, the North has gone 7-0 in All-Star games. Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Tennessee feed from the MiLB main audio page ********** Wisconsin: Idle until Friday for the All-Star break; Eight Timber Rattlers will represent the Midwest League's Western Division Champions tonight -- RHP's Drew Gagnon, Mark Williams, Tommy Toledo, and Seth Harvey, and IF's Jason Rogers, Greg Hopkins and Yadiel Rivera. Rafael Neda is the reserve catcher. Hopkins is the starting second baseman. The game will be played in Geneva, IL at the tongue-twisting Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, home of the Royals' Kane County club at 6:00 PM Central, and MiLB.com has a preview and updated rosters here. Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Kane County feed from the MiLB main audio page Chris Mehring indicates he'll be tweeting updates @CMehring ********** Helena: RHP Michael Schaub 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. ********** DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Angels, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until late afternoon at the earliest

The Manatees get underway much too early for my Link Report preparedness this morning, but we'll set you up here for box score / game log viewing. If you're in Lakeland, Florida, pop on over, because with no audio, that's the only way to follow this one! Brevard County: LHP Jed Bradley at Lakeland (Tigers), 9:30 AM Central gametime Brevard County Box Score / Game Log High-A - Florida State League North Division 2nd Half Standings The rest of your Link Report set-up, including the two All-Star contests tonight, will be up later today.

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Scooter Gennett shining for Huntsville Stars By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times HUNTSVILLE, Alabama --He leads the Southern League in hits and games played. He leads the Huntsville Stars in most kids enamored. And, perhaps, the diminutive Scooter Gennett leads in most abuse taken from teammates. On Sunday, the Stars gave away unique Father's Day bobbleheads of Hunter Morris, holding his young son Tripp. But teammate Mitch Stetter offered this up on Twitter: "Hunter Morris bobble head... Still trying to figure out why he's holding Scooter Gennett" Scooter Gennett - straight name Ryan - is the Stars' All-Star second baseman. He and four teammates are at the game tonight in Kodak, Tenn., several interstate exits northeast of Knoxville. "It's a great honor," Gennett said. "There's a lot of great players in this league. It's always nice to be honored as one of the top players at your position." At 5-foot-9, Gennett is closer in size to young fans than most of his teammates. Then, there's the nickname itself, with instant charm. A coworker here has a young son who is also a second baseman and who buzzes around the house bellowing, like a PA announcer, "Sco-o-o-o-o-o-ter Gennett!" The nickname, in case you haven't heard the genesis, comes from the Muppet by the same name. Gennett, as a 5-year-old, was enamored with him. He once introduced himself to a police officer as "Scooter," and now admits, "For a year I didn't answer to Ryan because I thought I'd get in trouble. I thought I'd get arrested." Gennett finished the first half with a .300 average, fifth-best in the league, and his 83 hits top that list. He's sixth in total bases. He hasn't missed a game yet. Give him credit for consistency. He hit .300 on the nose last year at Brevard County, after batting .309 in rookie ball. "I like that I'm out there every day, playing 100 percent and playing the game the right way," he said. "I also like the fact that there's always room to improve. There's always things to work on." Specifically, that would be defense. It's not that Gennett plays second base like he's wearing a pair of Teflon frying pans on his hands. He's made only nine errors. In fact, Huntsville manager Darnell Coles bragged that Gennett has "played phenomenally on defense." Coles said that "in years past, he's been a hitter and played pretty good defense. Now we've put an emphasis defensively on him so he can be a well-rounded player." Emphasis means a lot of ground balls, a lot of early workouts. "I don't let Scooter up for air," Coles said. "He knows he's got to do it. And we get it done. I want him to understand there is more to being an every-day player than just hitting." There is this inescapable fact if you are a follower of the Milwaukee Brewers. Rickie Weeks, the Brewers' current second baseman, is batting .177. He has struck out a league-worst 77 times. He's never been touted for his defense. To avid Milwaukee fans who know the farm system depth chart, and who know a leap from Huntsville to the show is not unprecedented, Gennett is akin to a backup quarterback on a team whose starter threw three interceptions last Saturday. Logic says it'll still be a while. But impatiently, some are awaiting the introduction on the Miller Park PA. "Sco-o-o-o-o-o-ter Gennett!" http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/11138204-large.jpg

Brewers fall behind early, drop opener Brewers fall behind early, drop opener By AMBER KUEHN, Helena Independent Record The Great Falls Voyagers started 2012 the same way they ended 2011 — with a win. Powered by six doubles and aided by some early miscues by Helena, the defending Pioneer League champions beat the Brewers 6-4 Monday at Kindrick Legion Field, spoiling manager Jeff Isom’s return to the Capital City. “We’ve got a bunch of new guys this year but people around town have been telling us, ‘Do it again, you’ve gotta do it again,’” said Great Falls center fielder Adam Heisler, who was 1 for 3 with a double and three RBIs. “So it’s nice to start the same way it ended. And the way we started that first inning, the big hitting just became contagious.” The Voyagers took advantage of a pair of Helena errors in the first to take a quick, two-run lead. Meanwhile, Helena managed just three hits through the first four innings against Great Falls starter Keegan Linza, who blew fastball after fastball past Brewers batters. “We struck out in some crucial situations,” Isom said. “We had opportunities and we didn’t come up with hits when we needed to. And we ended up making a couple of mistakes early on, but guys are still getting used to pro ball so that’s going to happen.” The hosts got back into the game in the fifth frame, when catcher Emmanuel Quiles stroked an RBI double down the right-field line to score Mike Nemeth from first. Two at-bats later, Raul Mondesi Jr. got his first hit in a Helena uniform — a hard-struck ball to left field that brought Quiles home and made it a one-run game. Mondesi would have the web gem of the game an inning later, fielding the ball deep in right field and making a perfect throw to home plate to beat Kyle Robinson by a good 10 feet. Isom noted Mondesi’s strong defense, and a couple of stellar plays by shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, were bright spots in the season opener. Rodriguez rebounded from a pair of errors to aid in two double plays. “He had a couple slow rollers that weren’t easy plays and he ends up making it look easy,” Isom said. “He redeemed himself and he’s gonna be just fine. I told him after the game to hang in there … it’s a learning process.” Trailing 6-3 going into the ninth, it looked as though the Brewers might have some late-game heroics in store as they have in past season openers — they came from behind to beat Missoula in each of the last two years. Ruben Ozuna led off the final inning with a high-flying opposite field double that looked as though it had a chance to clear the wall in left field to put a runner in scoring position. But Great Falls reliever Brett Merkley needed just two pitches total to retire the next two batters, and Mondesi’s two-out RBI double would be the last offense of the evening. But it’s not as though Helena didn’t have its chances early — like in the second inning, for instance, when the Brewers failed to bring home a run after loading the bases. “They’ve got to realize if you make a lot of mistakes in professional baseball, good teams are going to find a way to take advantage of those and win games,” Isom said. “We’ve gotta limit our mistakes and put the ball in play a little bit more. I like the effort these guys brought to the field, but we need to get more timely base hits … we swung through too many fastballs tonight.” Micah Johnson and Robinson led the Voyagers (1-0) at the plate with three hits apiece. Linza earned the win, fanning five through five innings, and Merkley allowed just one run in two innings of relief for the save. Zach Toney also pitched well for the visitors, striking out four and allowing just two hits in two innings. Helena’s 19-year-old starter Will West was hung with the loss. Despite giving up 10 hits and four earned runs while walking two through six frames, the southpaw did record six strikeouts. Isom saw a lot to like. “Will West did a nice job,” he said. “Looking at the box score, he gave up four earned runs but he pitched a lot better than that. It’s an outing that I hope he doesn’t hang his head on, because he did a lot of good things and it’s a good outing to build on.” Heisler admitted the Brewers pitchers left some balls over the plate. “We swung the bat real well, though,” he said. “Once one guy got going, we all did.” All but one player in the Great Falls lineup recorded at least one hit. The Brewers (0-1) get to take another crack at the Voyagers tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (8:05 Central), with Michael Schaub set to take the mound for Helena and Thomas Royce slated to start for Great Falls. Isom is anxious for his club to put this one behind them. “That’s the beautiful thing about baseball,” he said. “I always say, sometimes you get too smart of a team out there, they think too much and that’s not good. It’s almost better for them to have a little amnesia and forget about the night before. “That’s part of pro ball is you realize there’s gonna be another game. You go get your sleep and get ready to go again tomorrow.”