Utley Leaves Clearwater; Phils Look for Infield Help

By Tyler Brosious
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Updated: March 20, 2012

This is what we didn’t want to hear.

Phillies’ GM Ruben the magician Amaro announced Monday that Chase Utley is going to see a doctor about his chronic problems that he has in both of his knees.

Amaro went on to say, “Chase’s rehab process has come to a bit of a plateau. He has made some strides, but not enough to take the field. He is headed out of town for a few days to be evaluated by a specialist that has helped athletes overcome his issue.”

Utley has not been in a spring training game so far this season and was sidelined with knee injuries for a big part of last season. With this report today, it seems as if Utley will duplicate last year, and start the 2012 season on the disabled list.

Last week CSN’s Jim Salisbury reported that Amaro and the Phillies were looking for infield help. This seems reasonable after Michael Martinez went out of last week’s game with an elbow injury, Placido Polanco hurt his left hand over the weekend, and now Utley seems to be sidelined for the beginning of the season with a chronic knee issue.

This seems like it’s the Phillies being honest with the fan base. It shows that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, also known as our two best hitters, are not where they were expected to be at this point in spring training. Howard had a setback in his recovery of his Achilles injury when doctors found an infection around the scar from the surgery, and is expected to be in a walking boot for the next week or so. Utley obviously is not where they expected him to be and seems unlikely to be ready to go on opening day, which is less than a month away.

This is not the best situation to be in as April is sneaking up on the Phils and will be here soon, but they are being smart. They understand that this team, without a horrible collapse in the regular season, will win their 6th straight NL East crown and will see the bright lights of October. You still need your best players come October and a bit of momentum, and that’s why the Phillies are playing it safe with both Howard and Utley.

Jim Salisbury also said that the Phillies are looking to land some left field help as well because John Mayberry Jr. will probably be the guy at first base until the big piece returns.

I’m Tyler Brosious, or Brosh. I’m a 16 year-old junior at Lenape High School, and my real passion lies in Philly sports. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @brosh75 for Breaking Phillies news and everything Philly sports. Enjoy guys.