8/07/09–Terry Tiffee had a huge night going 4-4 with a double in the ‘Pigs 4-0 win over Scranton. Gustavo Chacin (7-3) continued pitching well in his quest for a major league rotation spot next year, going six shutout innings, giving up just 5 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 5. A Paul Hoover RBI double got Lehigh Valley on the board in the 4th and a sacrifice fly by Hoover tacked on another run for the ‘Pigs in the 6th. A two run 7th featuring RBI singles by Tiffee and John Mayberry put the game away for Lehigh Valley. Both Mike Cervenak and Rich Thompson added two hits apiece.
8/08/09–Joe Savery’s 2nd start for AAA Lehigh Valley on Saturday evening and he was not very impressive in the Lehigh Valley 4-3 win, consistently pitching with runners on base, in and sometimes out of trouble. In spite of the trouble, Savery went five innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked 4 and struck out 5, throwing 96 pitches, 57 for strikes. Lehigh Valley got on the board first in the 3rd inning on a Sac Fly by Jason Ellison. Scranton bounced back for two runs in the 4th off of Savery and it could have been much worse in an inning where he gave up 3 hits and walked one. A solo homer by Mike Cervenak knotted the game at two in the bottom of the 4th. In the 5th, the ‘Pigs took a 3-2 lead on a bloop RBI double by Jason Ellison . An insurance run was added in the 7th on a long homerun by the very hot Terry Tiffee. Steven Register made it interesting, giving up a run in the 9th, but then shut the door on the Yankees to earn his 6th save of the year. Michael Taylor, John Mayberry and JJ Furmaniak all day two hits for Lehigh Valley.
8/9/09–After a two hour rain delay Sunday evening, Chad Durbin took the mound versus Scranton and pitched one scoreless inning in what should be his last rehab appearance, before returning to the Phillies bullpen. In the 6-1 Scranton win, Jake Woods came on after Durbin and gave up two runs in the 3rd inning, giving Scranton a 2-0 lead. An RBI double in the bottom of the inning by David Newhan cut the Scranton lead in half, but the bullpen combination of Pat Overholt and Gary Majewski imploded, turning the close game into a rout as the evening went on. A four run 7th inning, where the Majewski/Overholt combination gave up 5 hits and a walk put the game out of reach for the ‘Pigs. David Newhan had 2 hits for Lehigh Valley.
Notes: Lehigh Valley surpassed last years win total (55), with a month left in the season.
Gustavo Chacin is 5-0 with a 2.82 ERA in his last seven starts.
3B Terry Tiffee is hitting .360 over his last 25 games.
Phuture Phillies 
Nice write-up as always Gregg. In the end, I wonder if Tiffee is better than Jason Donald. From what I understand, the guy has been hitting very well at the AAA level for the past couple of years.
For those who have seen him, how’s his defense? I think he’s a few years older, right?
LikeLike
What is Chacin’s contract status? Will he be around next year?
LikeLike
Chacin has been in the majors since 1999 so unless the Phillies add him to the 40 man roster, he is almost certainly a minor league free agent. Not to say he won’t come back, of course.
LikeLike
Meant to say minors in that first sentence.
LikeLike
Chacin will be a minor league free agent at the end of the year. As far as Tiffee goes, his defense is probably a small notch above adequate. He has been around the minor league block for awhile but he can flat out hit. He consistently makes contact and has decent power. His power is probably a bit less then what you would expect from a guy his size though. He is a very big guy. With the lack of upper level 3B prospects (with all due respect to Neil Sellers), I do hope they bring Tiffee back next year. He provides consistent offense to a team that needs consistency.
LikeLike
Just checked on Tiffee’s age, and didn’t realize that he was 30 already, and will be 31 at the beginning of next year. I guess it closes the book on his “prospect” status.
I guess the guy falls more into a Cervanek / Newhan guy than a Donald.
It’s always interesting to read about these guys in the minors who can flat out hit, but never really get a chance in the majors. Sometimes the player has baggage, or sometimes he’s really bad in the field.
LikeLike
Usually its a “he’s really bad in the field” situation. Or he’s a good average hitter who’s bat just doesn’t have enough power for a corner position (there are dozens of those guys floating around and only a few positions on 25 man rosters for them.)
LikeLike
I understand why guys like Tiffee don’t get a chance. Teams are looking for starters and impact players and if you have a hole in your game (lack of big time power, so-so fielding), you are a tweener.
What I don’t understand is why these guys do not get more opportunities as backup when they get to be 27/2y yrs old or older. A la Coste and Dobbs. There are so may recycled big leaguers or other types who are not performaing, you would think a solid hitter who can come off the bench and contribute to late rallies would be worth more.
Every org has a few of these. We have Tiffee, Sellers, Slayden (no more, alas), maybe others. I like new blood like this over guys like Cairo with “experience.” I am not knocking experience, but performance and hitting talent trumps it, IMO.
LikeLike
Occasionally players like Tiffee get an opportunity. The problem is that Tiffee has had 261 major league plate appearances and he hit .226. When you’re a career AAA player, you won’t get a second look unless you seize the opportunity when given. That’s not criticism of Tiffee, just an observation that some players are more fortunate than others.
LikeLike