Jim Goulart

Chad's audio call of Caleb Gindl's legged-out eventual game-winner from extra innings Saturday night...

Rattler Radio: May 2, 2010: Today's Rattlers Lineup From Chris -- Just a note to calm everyone who notices these things. Catcher Cameron Garfield is getting another day off. That's all. He is expected back in the lineup tomorrow. Hey, we're always calm http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif May 2, 2010: Today's Rattlers Starting Pitcher May 2, 2010: Game Notes

PDF document: Huntsville Media Notes Weather is shaky and delaying things in Birmingham as well...

Catcher Jonathan Lucroy and right-hander Amaury Rivas were named the organization's player and pitcher of the month.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 16 6 .727 - 5-5 11-1 W7 Omaha 11 11 .500 5.0 4-8 7-3 W3 Iowa 9 13 .409 7.0 5-8 4-5 L3 Memphis 9 13 .409 7.0 4-4 5-9 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 17 6 .739 - 6-4 11-2 W2 Huntsville 13 10 .565 4.0 5-5 8-5 W2 West Tenn 11 11 .500 5.5 4-8 7-3 L1 Chattanooga 11 12 .478 6.0 7-6 4-6 L2 Carolina 7 16 .304 10.0 2-8 5-8 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 14 8 .636 - 10-3 4-5 W3 Dunedin 13 9 .591 1.0 5-4 8-5 W2 Tampa 12 11 .522 2.5 8-6 4-5 W1 Lakeland 11 11 .500 3.0 6-4 5-7 L2 Brevard County 9 13 .409 5.0 4-6 5-7 L1 Daytona 8 15 .348 6.5 3-8 5-7 L4

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Peoria 15 8 .652 - 11-0 4-8 7-3 W5 Quad Cities 15 8 .652 - 9-2 6-6 5-5 L1 Beloit 14 8 .636 0.5 7-4 7-4 7-3 W3 Cedar Rapids 11 12 .478 4.0 7-4 4-8 4-6 W3 Kane County 11 12 .478 4.0 8-4 3-8 5-5 L2 Clinton 10 13 .435 5.0 6-6 4-7 4-6 L3 Burlington 8 15 .348 7.0 6-6 2-9 5-5 W1 Wisconsin 7 15 .318 7.5 5-6 2-9 2-8 L7

Follow Sunday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Tab or New Window". Choose "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin

Sunday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Marco Estrada at home vs. Memphis (Cardinals), 1:50 PM pre-game; 2:05 gametime Live Audio Link Huntsville: RHP Mark Rogers at Birmingham (White Sox), 1:50 PM pre-game; 2:05 gametime Live Audio Link Brevard County: LHP Dan Merklinger at Tampa (Yankees), 12:00 PM gametime; will LHP Chris Capuano also see action on normal four days' rest? Sorry, no audio for this series... Wisconsin: RHP Damon Krestalude at Beloit (Twins), 1:45 PM pre-game; 2:00 gametime Live Audio Link

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Wow, how thorough has Brett been with this series of profiles! Sweet... *** Link while active, text follows: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Profile: No. 29 Efrain Nieves by Post-Crescent staff writer Brett Christopherson - Age: 20. - Position: Pitcher. - Bats/throws: Left/left. - Height, weight: 6-0, 172. - Residence: Bayamon, Puerto Rico. - Glove: Rawlings, PRO200-4JB. - Notes: Selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh round of the 2007 June draft. ... Went 5-7 with 86 K's and a 5.70 ERA in 27 appearances, including 11 starts, last season with the Rattlers. ... Participated in the 2009 International Baseball Federation World Cup as a member of Team Puerto Rico. ... Pitched at the rookie level in 2007 and '08 at Arizona and Helena (Mont.). Favorites - MLB team growing up: Cleveland Indians. - MLB player(s) growing up: Roberto Clemente, Albert Pujols and Johan Santana. - Brewers player: Yovani Gallardo. - TV show: "George Lopez." - Food: Rice and beans with pork chops and fried plantains. "I like to keep it home style." - Wisconsin food: "A regular restaurant, like Applebee's or T.G. I. Friday's. - Thing about Appleton: "The weather in the summer." - Pitch: Changeup. "Other than the pitch looks like a fastball, just to see the reaction of the hitters and to see what that one pitch can do — the effect it can do on a hitter." - Sport other than baseball: Ping-pong. Q&A Q: What's up with ping-pong? A: Growing up, my mom and dad, for my 14th or 15th birthday, bought me a ping-pong table. And every time after school, if I didn't have any practice or anything like that, I just relaxed and played some ping-pong. Q: What do you like to do during those rare moments of free time? A: Here (in Appleton), we've got a mall nearby. So I like to go to the mall and relax my mind. If I want to buy something, I'll buy something nice. Or I'll go back home and watch a movie or go to the movie theater. Get as much away from the field as possible. Q: You mentioned Roberto Clemente as being one of your favorite players growing up. Is he still revered in your native Puerto Rico? A: Definitely. Not only in our country, but I think in Nicaragua, too. That's where he tried to help the people out (at the time of his plane crash). He's a huge hero down in Puerto Rico. Growing up, having that role model — not only was he a great player, but a great human being. Q: What was the hardest adjustment in getting acclimated to American culture? A: Learning the language. And then after that, just trying to find — not good food, but something you can relate to your hometown or little by little start to eat a little bit of each food so, by the end, you know what kind of food you like in the States. Q: You speak very good English. How did you learn? A: It was a hard time. I knew a little bit of English, but I couldn't speak fluently or use the right phrase or anything like that. But just talking every day to the players and coaches (helped). Sometimes, they'd laugh, but that's just part of the game. They tried to help you out. Most of the time, I would say something wrong, and they were like, "Hey, I understand what you're saying, but try to say it like this." Q: The Rattlers have reintroduced the host family program, which you have chosen to partake in after living in an apartment here last year. Why? A: This year, being my second year here, my family already knew how everything worked in the Midwest. So they were going to come and visit me more often, and I didn't want to stay in an apartment and pay too much rent. When they come here and I have to leave the apartment, I still would have to pay the rent and pay the hotel where they're staying. So the host family is better. You still pay, but you don't pay as much as the apartment. And if I'm not staying there, I don't have to pay. So I'll just go out and relax with my family for the time they're staying here. And whenever they leave, I'll just go back to the host family. Q: You are not related to former Brewers hurler Juan Nieves. But do you get that question a lot? A: A couple of times. Even when we're playing in Beloit, they have a picture of Juan Nieves there, and I had a couple of fans just stopping by and saying, "Hey, are you related to Juan Nieves?" I was like, "No. I wish." Or at least, I wish I could have gotten to know him to see how his experience was in the minor leagues and the big leagues. Q: You opened the season as a standalone starter but struggled and were moved back into a tandem system. What was the problem? A: I don't know. I think it was the pressure, the pressure that I put on myself in just being an alone guy to try to go long instead of working inning by inning, batter by batter. I think that was basically the biggest challenge for me. Moving me to the bullpen, they were like, "Hey, we just want you to command your pitches. That's it. We don't want you to worry about the result because we want you to get back in a rhythm, so that way, when we put you alone, you just keep going in that rhythm." Q: What did you take from playing for Puerto Rico in last year's IBAF World Cup? A: When the manager called me, I didn't believe it until my agent finally sat me down and said, "Hey, this is happening." Obviously, last year, I was having a rough season (with the Rattlers). But they were like, "Hey, they don't care. They want you on the team, so try and take advantage of every single play that happens." It was an awesome experience, because I got to play with a couple of big leaguers, like Ruben Gotay and Raul Casanova. So it was a good experience to play each and every day with them and hear their stories about how their minor-league experience was up to the big leagues. Q: Say you reach the majors — do want to be a starter or a reliever? A: It doesn't matter. Like every baseball player, I just want to get there, stay healthy and be able to have a long career. That's my biggest dream. Q: Finally, what's it going to take for you to make it to the bigs? A: I'll be honest with myself. I've got to control the running game and keep commanding my pitches and take one pitch at a time; not try to think of the next inning if I'm in this inning. The Tool Box Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching coach Chris Hook breaks down Efrain Nieves' skills: - Fastball velocity: He's 87 to 89 (mph), which is mild average to average range for a big-league fastball. He's mostly a four-seam guy but is converting to more of a two-seam sink/run guy. He's a command pitcher, and that's what he does best. - Off-speed pitches: His next best pitch is a changeup. He's got a good feel for that. I think he can improve — he gets a little too fine at times. Then he's got his curve/slurve. We're trying to get him to be a little bit more similar to his arm action out of his fastball, make that a bit cleaner. It's got more of a 10-to-4 break, as opposed to a 12-to-6. But that's improving as well. Last year, he really struggled with command of that pitch. But he's kind of switching — instead of being a four-seam/changeup guy, (he's trying to become) a two-seam/four-seam/change/curve guy. So he's in a process of kind of changing how he attacks hitters and being more of a contact guy early in the count instead of always looking for a strikeout, looking with a four-seam fastball and pinpointing it. - Overall command: He's got good command. Part of command is the ability to control your fastball and the ability to execute the fastball. Sometimes, he gets a little lax in executing a fastball in a particular area in moving more towards the middle of the plate. But that's kind of what he's working on, being able to work the edges and up and down a little bit more effectively. - Movement: The sinker is something he really never threw in his life. He threw four-seamers. But a sinker is more of an advanced pitch because a lot of guys can throw a baseball with two seams and then have it run, but it takes more of an advanced practice to get that ball to go down and be effective. It takes time to get a feel for that, and that's kind of where he's at right now. - Final thoughts: Fantastic kid. I think we forgot, at times, he was 18, 19 years old last year. And he's still one of the youngest guys on the team this year. … So I have to display patience with him. He has learned to become a better professional.

Quotes from Beloit's no-hit kid

Rattler catcher Cameron Garfield not starting either game of the doubleheader. Same goes for 3B Joey Paciorek.

Sounds site: Sounds, Redbirds Rained Out On Saturday NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tonight's scheduled 6:35 PM game between the Nashville Sounds and Memphis Redbirds at Greer Stadium has been postponed due to heavy rains throughout Middle Tennessee. The game will be made up as part of a 6:05 PM CT doubleheader on Tuesday, June 15. Nashville and Memphis are scheduled to wrap up their weekend series with a 2:05 PM meeting on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Marco Estrada (1-0, 2.74) will take the hill for the Sounds to face Memphis left-hander Rich Hill (1-2, 5.16).

Stu on the Memphis series thus far, the bullpen, and weather for tonight...

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Quad Cities 15 7 .682 - 9-1 6-6 6-4 W1 Peoria 14 8 .636 1.0 10-0 4-8 7-3 W4 Beloit 12 8 .600 2.0 5-4 7-4 7-3 W1 Kane County 11 11 .500 4.0 8-4 3-7 5-5 L1 Cedar Rapids 10 12 .455 5.0 6-4 4-8 4-6 W2 Clinton 10 12 .455 5.0 6-6 4-6 5-5 L2 Wisconsin 7 13 .350 7.0 5-6 2-7 3-7 L5 Burlington 7 15 .318 8.0 6-6 1-9 4-6 L2

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 16 6 .727 - 5-5 11-1 W7 Omaha 10 11 .476 5.5 4-8 6-3 W2 Iowa 9 12 .429 6.5 5-7 4-5 L2 Memphis 9 13 .409 7.0 4-4 5-9 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 16 6 .727 - 6-4 10-2 W1 Huntsville 12 10 .545 4.0 5-5 7-5 W1 Chattanooga 11 11 .500 5.0 7-5 4-6 L1 West Tenn 11 11 .500 5.0 4-8 7-3 L1 Carolina 7 15 .318 9.0 2-8 5-7 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 13 8 .619 - 9-3 4-5 W2 Dunedin 12 9 .571 1.0 5-4 7-5 W1 Lakeland 11 10 .524 2.0 6-3 5-7 L1 Tampa 11 11 .500 2.5 7-6 4-5 L1 Brevard County 9 12 .429 4.0 4-6 5-6 W1 Daytona 8 14 .364 5.5 3-8 5-6 L3

Follow Saturday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Tab or New Window". Choose "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin Game One Wisconsin Game Two

In Beloit, the doubleheader pretty much gives the rest of the bullpen the day off, as you have four pitchers now scheduled to split 12-14 innings of action, depending on the outcome of the games and barring extra innings. With no days off this coming week, will Bucci and Howell be brought back on three days' rest on Wednesday? You wonder if Jeff Isom and Chris Hook have considered having Heckathorn and Lasker each have their own game today with traditional bullpen backup, and pushing everyone out a day. RHP Hiram Burgos is a guy we need to see stretched out at some point as well...

Saturday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Marco Estrada at home vs. Memphis (Cardinals), 6:20 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime Live Audio Link Huntsville: RHP Alex Periard at Birmingham (White Sox), 6:15 PM pre-game; 6:30 gametime Live Audio Link Brevard County: RHP Wily Peralta at Tampa (Yankees), 6:00 PM gametime Sorry, no audio for this series... Wisconsin: RHP's Kyle Heckathorn and Nick Bucci in a doubleheader at Beloit (Twins), 3:45 PM pre-game; 4:00 gametime; RHP Maverick Lasker and LHP Del Howell are scheduled to tandem, respectively; each contest slated for seven innings Live Audio Link

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That was a nice follow-up post, coach. Looks like it's simply time to sit back as fans and wait for Angel's return and enjoy Jonathan in the meantime.

I'll be efforting out Saturday's Link Report later today. Your earliest action is the Rattlers' doubleheader at 4:00 PM Central.

Welcome, Nashville pitching coach, Rich Gale. Sounds off to an amazing start -- only 164 hits allowed in 201 innings thus far (stat page).

Brett Christopherson with a valid point about the Timber Rattler defense.

Outfielder Adam Stern is the April 30th Nashville interview.