Jim Goulart

Always a plus when hometown newspapers give us insights like this -- Mike Nemeth was drafted in the 21st round out of UConn last June. *** Catching Up With: Former Warren Hills (PA) High School baseball standout, Mike Nemeth by Andy Loigu, LehighValleyLive.com Professional baseball players cannot choose where they begin their careers. That choice is made for them, in the annual amateur entry draft. Warren Hills High School graduate Mike Nemeth is more than happy to have been drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. As the first player from Warren Hills to ever be drafted, he is delighted to have an opportunity to hit and field his way into the majors, even though the pathway there goes through towns west of the Mississippi that are far way from home. "My parents won't get too many chances to see me play right now," said Nemeth, who is in the Brewers' extended spring training program, preparing for his second season with Helena, Mont., a short-season Single-A team that does not play an official game until June 18. "The Helena team will have a lot of guys in the same boat I was in last year," Nemeth said in a telephone interview from Phoenix. "A lot of players fresh off the college campus are assigned to that league. This year, I'll be one of the older guys there. I'm not discouraged by being returned there, though. They said I'll get regular at bats on a daily basis, that I will develop faster that way. Players need to master one level before they move to the next one. That's the way it works for everybody." Nemeth indicated that Tony Diggs, a Brewers' player development assistant, has been helping him make progress in playing the professional game. "It's all about making adjustments here, all the time, because everybody you compete with has unlimited physical talent and skills," Nemeth remarked. Although Nemeth batted a pedestrian .213 in 47 games and 115 at bats last season at Helena, the Brewers are encouraged that he drew 26 walks and had a .324 on-base percentage. "Knowing the strike zone is critical in pro ball, where so many guys throwing 98 miles per hour are trying to get you with high heat. Others are trying to fool you with breaking balls outside the zone," he explained. "The biggest problem is that different umpires have varying strike zones. You have to keep a mental notebook on what each umpire calls." He also noted that a big difference between high school baseball and the higher levels is the pitchers' ability to throw effective change of pace pitches. "You can time a guy who throws hard, but the challenge is the change up," Nemeth said. Mostly a first baseman at Warren Hills and UConn, Nemeth has played a lot of third base in the Brewers' system, even though he was named to the Rawlings Division I Gold Glove team as the best fielding first baseman in the nation. "Well, everybody here did something special to get here," Nemeth said. "It helps my chances of moving up if I can be trusted playing either corner," Nemeth added. "There are no shortcuts. You've got to put in the time and take a lot of ground balls." What does it take to get drafted by a major league organization? Nemeth finished his UConn career in the Big East Conference as the Huskies' all-time leader in hits (331) and RBIs (211) and is second all-time in doubles with 50. As a senior, he led UConn with a .359 batting average to go with three homers and 51 RBIs. His 93 hits also topped the team. He also helped the team win. The Huskies (45-20-1) reached the NCAA Super Regional before getting eliminated by defending champion South Carolina. It was his desire to reach the College World Series that prompted Nemeth to return to UConn for his senior season. Several teams indicated an interest in drafting him after a junior season at UConn in which Nemeth batted .386 with 15 homers and a team-leading 98 hits, 20 doubles and 84 RBI in just 60 games. "Although you can always go back to college and many players do, I'm glad I finished my college degree requirements," Nemeth said, "although I must admit baseball goals have been driving my decisions." Well, with his baseball resume, why not? After rewriting the Warren Hills record book, Nemeth became a plebe at the Naval Academy in Annapolis in the summer of 2007. The coach at Navy, Paul Kostacopoulos, has a collegial relationship with UConn coach Jim Penders, who learned about Nemeth's baseball skills through conversations with him. "Coach Penders had used up all his scholarships, but he gave me a chance to play my way onto the team," Nemeth recalled. "All a player can ask for is a chance. With the service time you commit yourself to when you graduate from The Academy, that could have put my baseball development on hold and jeopardized my chances of playing pro. I had a decision to make and my heart told me to pursue baseball." "UConn was great for my parents (Bill and Leslie Nemeth) because they didn't mind the three-hour drive to see my home games," Nemeth remembered. "But 2,000 miles is a lot different. My mom did come to Phoenix to visit me right after Easter. I was really happy she did that." As an "older player" at extended spring, Nemeth said simply meeting young men from high schools all over the country and from Asia and Latin America is an education in itself. Nemeth talked about a 17-year old from the Dominican Republic who is in the Brewers' camp. "I don't think he got any sophisticated coaching there, but he has great natural instincts for the game. He's got what it takes to really make it big. I think it comes from simply doing a lot of playing, working on skills on your own, and loving what you're doing," he said. "And, if I think I'm homesick away from my parents, imagine what it's like for him." Nemeth remembered that Hackettstown's Cole Kimball played two rookie league seasons in Vermont and then advanced through Washington's organization to reach the big leagues. "It would be pretty cool if I ever batted against him in a big league game," he said. "Two guys from Warren County. Imagine that." It would be yet another first involving Mike Nemeth. ___ Name: Mike Nemeth Local connection: Warren Hills Regional High School (2007) Notables: First baseball player from Warren Hills to play Division I college baseball (University of Connecticut) ABCA/NCAA All-American Three-time Big East All-Tournament team First Blue Streak to be drafted by a Major League Baseball organization Three-time Express-Times All-Area first team player with Warren Hills Currently resides: Phoenix, Ariz. *** Nemeth talked about a 17-year old from the Dominican Republic who is in the Brewers' camp. "I don't think he got any sophisticated coaching there, but he has great natural instincts for the game. He's got what it takes to really make it big. I think it comes from simply doing a lot of playing, working on skills on your own, and loving what you're doing," he said. "And, if I think I'm homesick away from my parents, imagine what it's like for him." Orlando "Trumpets Blare" Arcia reference, no doubt

Joe Block's Brewers pre-game audio interview with just-called up RHP Vinnie Chulk

Nashville Media Notes

And just like that, Thielbar (career stats) got promoted to AA today. He went the indy route after his Brewer release, and then the Twins inked him, good for perseverence.

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 Wisconsin Media Notes here as that mid-day game time approaches.

I won't be around at all most of the day, but notice that in addition to watching (MiLB.TV with subscription) or listening (free) to Chris and the Rattlers, there is a morning Manatee game log for you to follow. And with the Brewers in San Diego, Jeff's call of a Mark Rogers start makes for a nice appetizer to the late-night Crew. It's a day-long media-fest today.

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

Follow Monday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Brevard County Wisconsin

Monday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Mark Rogers at home vs. Omaha (Royals), 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 ********** Brevard County: RHP Brandon Williamson at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 9:35 AM gametime Sorry, no audio 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: RHP Andy Moye at home vs. Bowling Green (Rays), 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 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 24 Stars' road games (one Helena series this summer, too).

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

Maybe a helmet slam or a cuss word? Brevard County Bottom of the 8th Juan Sanchez walks. Franklin Romero Jr. out on a sacrifice bunt to pitcher Hector Neris. Juan Sanchez to 2nd. Brevard County Manatees right fielder Franklin Romero Jr. ejected by 1B umpire Ryan Clark.

Huntsville Media Notes

Catching up on some Nashville video: Sean Halton strokes an RBI double during the Sounds' 3-0 win over the Iowa Cubs Caleb Gindl starts a double play from right field Apparenly all PCL score graphics are really intrusive...

While technically percentage points behind, we're going to say Wisconsin is now in a three-way tie for first place in a very balanced division.

More photos as the Appleton Post-Crescent has a gallery The Post-Crescent game story includes a video interview with starting pitcher David Goforth Includes some nice analysis from Rattlers Manager Matt Erickson...

Cream City Cables' blog -- Six Questions with Max Walla

Brad Krause impresses us again with post-game Rattlers thoughts and photos. http://tratsbaseball.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/20120429_286000.jpg?w=565&h=375 Pre-game on Sunday, Brad also posted his weekly recap and reminded me that former Brewers farmhand LH reliever Caleb Thielbar is excelling with Minnesota's High-A team this season.

Very enjoyable 8 1/2-minute interview with Nashville (now reliever) Amaury Rivas via Jeff Hem's blog Not only an excellent speaker in terms of English, but it's more than that -- very thoughtful in his answers, hard not to come away impressed. Rivas is eligible for minor league free agency at season's end. If he excels in his new role, it wouldn't be shocking to see him re-added to the 40-man roster at some point.

Nashville rained out... DES MOINES, Iowa – Sunday’s scheduled finale between the Nashville Sounds and Iowa Cubs at Principal Park was postponed due to rain. No make-up game has been announced at this time. The Sounds return to Greer Stadium tomorrow to open a brief four-game homestand against the division-leading Omaha Storm Chasers, who swept Nashville earlier this week. Sounds right-hander Mark Rogers (0-2, 7.50) will make the start at 7:05pm CT against Omaha southpaw Mike Montgomery (2-0, 4.57).

Media notes: Nashville Wisconsin

Be sure to read the Post-Crescent profile on Saturday's Rattlers starter Mark Williams, highlighted in our Wisconsin thread here.

You guys know I'm a sucker for our Brewers signed initially from the independent ranks (remember this feature?), so I'm thrilled at how interesting and easy to read the latest Post-Crescent player profile article is. Feature Profile: Timber Rattlers' RHP Mark Williams By the way, regarding the first link in this post, I need to update it to include the four most recent indy league signees (INF Hainley Statia, LHP Alan Williams, RHP Bradley Blanks, and RHP Mark Williams, who was the most recent signee -- it's been a while, c'mon Brewers, time for more!) Also, since we migrated away from the Yuku platform, some of the links to our archived thread in that article need to be adjusted. The baseball stuff in the Post-Cresent profile is great, although they've gotten away from obtaining coaches' comments and scouting reports. But then there's this: "You're a broadcasting major." Q: So why do they call you Bubba? A: "They call me Bubba because I dip. I chew tobacco and I always put it in front so I look like Bubba from Forrest Gump. So they call me Bubba all the time. They also say I don't annunciate my words very well so they call me Boomhauer and mix that in there too, off 'King of the Hill.' So I've got a couple of nicknames bouncing around in there.'' *** A broadcasting major who doesn't annunciate words very well? Oops... Sorry to be preachy, Mark, but lose the dip. Otherwise, good luck, really enjoyed all the thoughts and stories you shared.

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 Florida State League North Division Midwest League Western Division