Jim Goulart

PCL American North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Omaha 41 34 .547 - - 21-15 20-19 5-5 W1 Memphis 39 35 .527 1.5 69 23-16 16-19 7-3 L2 Iowa 33 42 .440 8.0 62 16-19 17-23 4-6 W2 Nashville 32 42 .432 8.5 62 20-18 12-24 3-7 L1 SOU North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Carolina 1 0 1.000 - - 1-0 0-0 1-0 W3 Chattanooga 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-1 0-0 0-1 L1 Huntsville 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-0 0-1 0-1 L2 Jackson 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-0 0-1 0-1 L3 * Tennessee 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-0 0-1 0-1 L3 FSL North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Brevard County 1 0 1.000 - - 1-0 0-0 1-0 W1 Clearwater 1 0 1.000 - - 1-0 0-0 1-0 W1 Tampa 1 0 1.000 - - 1-0 0-0 1-0 W1 * Daytona 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-0 0-1 0-1 L1 Dunedin 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-0 0-1 0-1 L1 Lakeland 0 1 .000 1.0 69 0-0 0-1 0-1 L2 PIO North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Helena 3 1 .750 - - 2-0 1-1 3-1 W1 Billings 2 2 .500 1.0 34 2-2 0-0 2-2 W1 Great Falls 2 2 .500 1.0 34 0-0 2-2 2-2 L1 Missoula 1 3 .250 2.0 33 1-1 0-2 1-3 L1 AZL Central Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak AZL Dodgers 3 0 1.000 - - 2-0 1-0 3-0 W3 AZL Brewers 2 1 .667 1.0 53 0-1 2-0 2-1 W2 AZL Indians 1 2 .333 2.0 52 1-1 0-1 1-2 L2 AZL Reds 1 2 .333 2.0 52 1-0 0-2 1-2 L1 DSL S.D. North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak DSL Mariners 16 5 .762 - - 8-3 8-2 10-0 W12 DSL Brewers 15 7 .682 1.5 50 6-4 9-3 6-4 L1 DSL Athletics 7 15 .318 9.5 42 3-6 4-9 3-7 L4 DSL Cardinals 6 16 .273 10.5 41 5-8 1-8 3-7 L1

Follow Friday's action as it happens: Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin Helena Arizona Rookie (Maryvale) DSL Brewers

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF! Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Chase Wright at home vs. Omaha (Royals), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link iPad/iPhone: Listen MiLB.TV -- for subscribers Huntsville: RHP Cody Scarpetta at Carolina (Reds), 6:15 PM gametime Live Audio Link -- Select the Carolina feed from the MiLB main audio page Brevard County: TBD (MiLB.com lists RHP R.J. Seidel) at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 6:05 PM gametime Sorry, no audio available for this game... Wisconsin: RHP Brooks Hall at home vs. Quad Cities (Cardinals), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link NOTE: The Rattlers face Cardinals' uber-prospect Carlos Martinez, the next "Pedro", in this one. Helena: RHP Tyler Cravy at home vs. Billings (Reds), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Live Audio Link -- Select the Helena feed from the MiLB main audio page Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at home vs. the Diamondbacks' kids; games begin at 7:00 local time in the desert; never audio for games in this league DSL Brewers: at the DSL Athletics, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until late afternoon at the earliest

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

Some of you may remember when I detailed a very nice evening (despite the rain) I spent last July in my hometown watching the Canadian Junior National Team play the local New England Collegiate Baseball League squad. My write-up The game-specific write-up from the Baseball Canada website The goal was to watch two Brewer draftees who had yet to sign (RHP Joel Pierce did eventually, C/OF Rowan Wick -- St. John's University, NY -- did not). Jalen Harris played in that game, and I knew at the time of course, of neither his future Brewer connection, nor about his hearing loss. My 15-year-old daughter, who is both deaf and implanted similarly to Jalen, has been reading about him, and of course, thinks he's "cool". I would have definitely brought her out that night just so she could meet my future big league Brewer son-in-law http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

Wow -- 35 combined strikeouts in the Helena game; MiLB.com with the details.

Timber Rattlers notes by Mike Woods, Appleton Post-Crescent GRAND CHUTE — As Matt Erickson watched the rain pelt the tarp at Fox Cities Stadium on yet another gray, overcast day, he mused, "Welcome back to Appleton." The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' return home likely matched the weather: gloomy. First, their late surge to try to capture the Midwest League's final first-half playoff spot fell just short. Then, on Thursday, they learned their two best pitchers, Tyler Thornburg and Austin Ross, had been promoted to High A Brevard County. The two combined for 13 of the Rattlers' 38 first-half wins. But this level is all about progress, so Erickson was hardly disappointed that two of his players are advancing. "The way I see it, we're part of development," he said. "So anytime somebody has success here and gets to move to another level, that's a good thing. It's a good thing for the organization, a good thing for the player and I think it's a good thing for the people who have worked with them." Thornburg was 7-0 with a 1.57 ERA, which placed him second in both categories in the Midwest League. He also dominated hitters, striking out 76 in 68 2/3 innings. Ross cooled down after a fast start and finished 6-3 with a 3.25 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings. "It gives us some motivation to talk to the rest of our pitchers," Erickson said, "about how somebody needs to take those roles and pick up those wins." Right-hander Jameson Dunn is being counted upon to pick up some of those wins. "For us, the guys that are still here, it's a great opportunity," he said. "A lot of guys would love to be starters and maybe don't get the opportunity. So now, it's at hand and so we need to do the best we can with it and, hopefully, it works out for us." As far as his team's first-half play, Erickson had hoped for a bit better but was pleased how it played out. "I think it was great that we got to play every game in the first half that meant something to this ballclub, which isn't always the case," he said. "Some people get down 15, 20 games below .500 and it's tough to start motivating through winning. You have to find some other ways to motivate. "We played really good baseball when we went into Peoria (the final week) and took care of them handily. Then it was unfortunate, we had a 7-0 lead in that first game in Cedar Rapids and some things happened that let them get back in it and, to their credit, they took it from us. The next day, we didn't play very well at all but didn't quit and ended up tying the game and thought we were going to immediately steal a game from them the next day, but they won it in extra innings." In the end, the Rattlers finished 2.5 games behind Quad Cities for the final first-half playoff spot. "But, the final day, we were there. We played a very clean game, mistake-free and had a chance to have the best record in the Brewers organization," said Erickson of the Cedar Rapids series. "That was the motivation the last day and it worked out. We finished six games above (38-32), obviously, a little bit short of what our goal was — to play some extra baseball and get into the playoffs — but overall did a lot of good things, too." *** Jake Odorizzi, who was one of four players sent to Kansas City in the deal for Zack Greinke, put together a 5-2 record and 2.71 ERA in the first half of the season with High A Wilmington in the Carolina League. He had 93 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. Jeremy Jeffress, who began the year with the Royals, returned to Triple A and has struggled. He is 1-3 with a 6.23 ERA with the Omaha Storm Chasers, managed by Clintonville native Mike Jirschele. Jeffress went 1-1 as a reliever with the Royals. In 14 games, he had a 1-1 record and 4.70 ERA before being sent down. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was 13-11. Also, center fielder Lorenzo Cain is batting .305 in Omaha, with eight homers and 39 RBI in 64 games. He is expected to replace Melky Cabrera for the Royals sometime this season. The final player in that trade, shortstop Alcides Escobar, has played in 74 games and is batting .248 with one home run, 20 RBI and an OBP of .284. He also has a .985 fielding percentage, with six errors in 406 chances.

98 on the radar for Manatee closer Santo Manzanillo, and yes, he's an actual big-time prospect now -- amazing story, and we've asked the Florida Today staff to follow up, given his wild and humble beginnings with the organization.

Rich Gale was a big proponent of the Marco Estrada waiver claim, which paid dividends early this season on the big league level.

Extra duty: Brewers edge Osprey after Missoula forces extra innings by Nick Lockridge of the Missoulian The Helena Brewers beat the Missoula Osprey 6-5 in a Pioneer League baseball game that lasted 12 innings and more than four hours on Thursday at Ogren-Allegiance Park. Helena’s Max Walla drove in Jason Rogers with the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th inning to give the defending league champions the one-run advantage. The two squads, who played a 12-inning affair in Monday’s season opener, have played four games this season and each one was decided by one run. Alan Williams ended up getting the win for the Brewers (3-1), who lead the North Division at this early stage. Missoula’s Chris Ellison sent the game into extras. He tied the game at 5-5 with one swing of the bat, taking the first pitch he saw from Helena reliever Jacob Barnes deep to right field for a solo home run to lead off the ninth. Ellison was a defensive substitution for the Osprey, who had three players exit the game because of injury. Ellison, who took Ty Linton’s spot in left field, nearly played the hero in the bottom of the 11th when he doubled off the batter’s eye in center. Jeremia Gomez, running from first, was gunned down at home plate on the relay. Gomez lay on the ground for several moments after receiving a high tag on the play. Gomez remained in the game, but it wasn’t the first scary moment of the night for Missoula. Linton and Westley Moss ran into each other while going for a ball in the gap in the fourth inning. Moss dove, but missed the ball, and hit his head on Linton’s knee. The Brewers’ John Dishon was credited with a three-run inside-the-park home run on the play. Both Osprey players were examined before leaving the field. No report on their condition was available at press time. O’s second baseman Matt Jensen injured his right leg in a collision with Helena first baseman Jason Rogers, who weighs more than 250 pounds, while running through the bag on a RBI single in .the first frame. Ryan Court hit a two-run home run in the third to give Missoula a 3-0 lead.

You'll find several Nashville video highlights from the past few days here.

Sounds pitching coach steps down, cites personal reasonsNashville City Paper Less than a week after he was selected to participate in the 2011 Pacific Coast League All-Star Game, Nashville Sounds pitching coach Rich Gale resigned for personal reasons, according to the team. Gale stepped down over the weekend. The Sounds and their parent club, the Milwaukee Brewers, had no additional comment. Bill Castro, the Brewers' roving minor league Latin pitching instructor, has replaced Gale on an interim basis. A permanent replacement will be hired at a later date. Gale was in his second season with Nashville. He also spent two seasons (2007-08) with Albuquerque and spent 2009 as a Class A pitching coach in the Washington Nationals organization. He was named a pitching coach for the all-star game (July 13, Salt Lake City) on June 16 but his decision meant that he would not appear there either. The 57-year-old pitched 195 Major League Games over parts of seven season with four different franchises. The majority of his time was with the Kansas City Royals. The Sounds entered Wednesday’s doubleheader against Omaha third in fewest runs (349) and hits (648) allowed and fourth in the PCL in team ERA (4.56).

Hat-tip to the Rattler Radio Blog -- Tyler Thornburg & Austin Ross are heading to Brevard County, Milwaukee’s affiliate in the Florida State League. See this video at The Fan 2 Facebook page of an interview of the newest members of the Manatees, conducted earlier this month.

Nashville Media Notes Huntsville Media Notes

RHP Chad Pierce, the Wisconsin native and UW-Milwaukee draftee, the subject of a nice feature piece by Audrey Snyder of MLB.com

AA, and the two A-ball squads have 0-0 records / standings at this time. Wisconsin won't show standings until after their game Friday (Saturday's Link Report).

PCL American North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Omaha 40 34 .541 - - 21-15 19-19 4-6 L1 Memphis 39 34 .534 0.5 71 23-16 16-18 8-2 L1 Nashville 32 41 .438 7.5 64 20-17 12-24 4-6 W1 Iowa 32 42 .432 8.0 63 15-19 17-23 4-6 W1 PIO North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Great Falls 2 1 .667 - - 0-0 2-1 2-1 W1 Helena 2 1 .667 - - 2-0 0-1 2-1 L1 Billings 1 2 .333 1.0 35 1-2 0-0 1-2 L1 Missoula 1 2 .333 1.0 35 1-0 0-2 1-2 W1 AZL Central Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak AZL Dodgers 2 0 1.000 - - 1-0 1-0 2-0 W2 AZL Brewers 1 1 .500 1.0 54 0-1 1-0 1-1 W1 AZL Indians 1 1 .500 1.0 54 1-0 0-1 1-1 L1 AZL Reds 1 1 .500 1.0 54 1-0 0-1 1-1 W1 DSL S.D. North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak DSL Mariners 15 5 .750 - - 8-3 7-2 10-0 W11 DSL Brewers 15 6 .714 0.5 52 6-3 9-3 6-4 W2 DSL Athletics 7 14 .333 8.5 44 3-5 4-9 3-7 L3 DSL Cardinals 6 15 .286 9.5 43 5-8 1-7 3-7 W1

Follow Thursday's action as it happens: Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Helena Arizona Rookie (Maryvale) DSL Brewers Game One DSL Brewers Game Two

After all recent moves, Nashville, Huntsville, and Brevard are filled at 24, 24, and 25, respectively. Wisconsin has an opening with 24 filled, limit 25. The AAA and AA rosters remain stable to begin the 2nd half.

Thursday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Josh Butler at home vs. Omaha (Royals), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link iPad/iPhone: Listen MiLB.TV -- for subscribers Huntsville: RHP Wily Peralta at Carolina (Reds), 6:15 PM gametime Live Audio Link -- Select the Carolina feed from the MiLB main audio page Brevard County: RHP Nick Bucci at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 6:05 PM gametime Sorry, no audio available for this game... Wisconsin: Idle Helena: RHP Andy Moye (15th round pick out of Georgia Southern) makes his pro debut at Missoula (Diamondbacks), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Live Audio Link -- Select the Helena feed from the MiLB main audio page Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at the Indians' complex in Goodyear; games begin at 7:00 local time in the desert; never audio for games in this league DSL Brewers: Doubleheader at home vs. the DSL Mariners, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until late afternoon at the earliest; each contest slated for seven innings NOTE: The DSL Mariners (I'll let Eric look up the spanish equivalent of mini-Mariners) have won 11 in a row, and are 15-5. The Cerveceritos are 15-6. Great twinbill matchup!

They have done so by placing RHP Hiram Burgos on the DL -- no word on the nature or severity of any injury.

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

Based on this tweet from Chris Mehring, we know that RHP Maverick Lasker was dropped from Brevard to Wisconisn. The Manatees need to free up another roster spot to make room for both Tyler Thornburg and Austin Ross. http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/745004852/CharlieBrown_normal.jpg @CMehring The @TimberRattlers 2nd half rotation: Brooks Hall, Jimmy Nelson, Jameson Dunn, Matt Miller, Maverick Lasker

Manatees set to start anew http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110623/SPORTS/106230311/Manatees-set-start-anewhttp://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110623/SPORTS/106230311/Manatees-set-start-anewCan put 27-43 record behind them now by Mark DeCotis, Florida Today The calendar is changing but the challenges remain for the Brevard County Manatees. The second half of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League season opens tonight with the Manatees hosting the Lakeland Flying Tigers, and with all 12 teams reverting to 0-0 in the standings, the Manatees have the opportunity to put their disappointing, league-worst 27-43 record behind them. For them to do that, Manager Jeff Isom said they must do three things they couldn't do in the first half: - Pitch effectively. - Play defense. - Hit with runners in scoring position. Heading into Wednesday's first-half finale against Dunedin, a 6-3 loss at Space Coast Stadium, the Manatees ranked last in the FSL in earned run average (4.68), worst in runs allowed (358), worst in earned runs allowed (310) and were tied for worst in walks and hits per innings pitched (1.50). They also allowed the second-most hits (651). If that wasn't bad enough, they ranked second worst in errors with 82, were seventh in hitting with runners in scoring position at .256 and hit a paltry, league-worst .140 with the bases loaded. The Manatees were second in the league in stolen bases with 83, fulfilling one of Isom's tenants of aggressiveness. The flip side was they led the league in getting caught stealing 33 times. Those weren't the only telling offensive statistics. The Manatees led the league in home runs with 62 but were seventh in runs batted in with 285. Translation: a plethora of solo home runs that also led to a paltry 6-37 record when they were tied or trailing after six innings. Isom is well aware of the dearth of situational hitting. "That's something we talk about quite a bit," he said. "Don't put pressure on yourself, get quality pitches. You have to recognize those situations. Obviously, you still have to hit the baseball. "When you're putting extra pressure on yourself because there's a guy in scoring position, it's tough to do." At least on the calendar, those performances are history. And Isom and his staff and his players arrive at the ballpark today with opportunities abounding. Part of the process of making the most of those opportunities will involve player movement, a given at this level of minor league ball. The parent organization, the National League's Milwaukee Brewers, will surely move players up to the FSL and perhaps up to Class Double A Hunstville and perhaps down to lower-level Class A. So there's a lot on Isom's plate, but he's not changing his thinking. "We approach every day with the idea that we're going to come here and win the game," he said. "Obviously, when a team is struggling it's hard to do." But that doesn't mean the expectations will be lowered. "The second half starts . . . and we're excited to see that," Isom said. "We've been out of it for a while. We feel like get some solid pitching, we're going to be just fine. "There are lessons to be learned. We continue to talk about playing good defense. We're not a club that can afford to give extra outs. We know that day in and day out." Extra outs lead to extra swings, extra hits, extra runs, extra opportunities to make errors and extra opportunities to suffer defeats. But today all things start anew.

Stars open second half of Southern League season with sense of optimism By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The Huntsville Stars have gone through the aging process. Now it's time to see just how the maturation pays off. The Stars were one of the younger teams in the Southern League in the first half and they occasionally showed their youth. They could be dreadful - an eight-game losing streak in early May that was part of a 5-15 stretch - or red-hot, as they were in finishing the half with eight wins in their last 11, salvaging a 37-33 record. As they start the second half tonight, opening a five-game series at Carolina, manager Mike Guerrero said, "I think we're going to be an improved team in the second half, once the guys know what they're facing. We had a pretty good finish. I think the guys know what they need to overcome. They're a little more experienced and they're confident. "We're going to be pretty good," Guerrero said. "I'm not claiming any title, but we'll be there." This is historically the time of the season where roster upheaval takes place. Drafted players begin to fill spots at the lower-level clubs. Class A players earn their way to promotions. Class AAA players who have reached a plateau become expendable. There were no changes announced before the Stars left for Carolina and Guerrero is loathe to discuss the possibility of any moves. "It's out of my control," he said. "All I can do is give my best to the guys I have now." Hunter Morris, the Grissom High and Auburn product who made a splash in a brief call-up in May, is batting .276 with 10 homers and 38 RBI at Class A Brevard. The Manatees' hottest bat belongs to 25-year-old outfielder Brock Kjedgaard, with 18 homers and a .281 average. Working against Morris, who can play third or first, is that Huntsville is getting good production at both those spots, first baseman Sean Halton and All-Star third baseman Steffan Wilson. In turn, there is little room now for advancement for those two, with Mat Gamel and Taylor Green putting up good numbers at first and third, respectively, at Class AAA Nashville. Grounds for Guerrero's optimism is the offensive provided by Halton, Wilson and others like outfielders Erik Komatsu and Lee Haydel. Logan Schafer has 24 games of Class AA experience now, with a .309 average, and gives Huntsville some speed at the top of the order. "Our pitching staff is starting to come around," Guerrero said. "Our offense has been OK for the most part. We need to catch the ball behind our pitching and not make as many mental mistakes." The Stars yielded the fourth-most unearned runs in the Southern League; conversely, they were last in home runs and eighth in run production. "We'll play better the second half," Guerrero said. "The (young) guys hadn't faced that kind of competition (before). They hadn't experienced this level, the way they pitch, the way they do things." Guerrero then lit a caution light. "The second half is going to be even tougher. They know you and they know your weaknesses. And you have to adjust to that." How much maturity helps adjustment will be revealed between now and Labor Day.