Chase Utley Rejoins Phillies In 10-3 Rout Of Reds, Gets Standing Ovation

Utley received a long and loud standing ovation from the largest regular-season crowd ever at Citizens Bank Park.

The question now becomes whether or not Utley’s knee can hold up to the every day grind. Utley expects to get more days off than most players and might not play day games after night games. Other than that, he’ll be back in the line-up, just as Phillie fans want it.

Today it looks like Utley will return before Memorial Day. From Philadelphia Sports Daily:

So Utley’s lined up to get going in extended spring training in a matter of days. He’s looked good in some recent simulated games, and now he’ll begin progressing towards playing in some actual minor league games. Once he can do that and get comfortable without his knee acting up, he’ll be ready to join the Phillies, and while nobody’s setting an official timetable, the hope is that Utley will be back with the team by the end of May or beginning of June.

Good news, for a team that keeps rolling despite a lot of bad news.

Charlie says he thinks Utley would benefit from more workouts in ext spring & soon be ready for some games. Did well in workouts today.

Utley has advanced to the point where he’s jogging, fielding grounders and moving laterally in sneakers, and he’s nearing a switch to cleats. He has clearly been making steady improvement. Yet, in his own words, it’s a slow process, and there’s a ways to go yet before he’s back to feeling 100%, or anywhere close to it.

So Utley remains without a timetable. Fortunately, the Phillies have been winning without him, so there’s no sense of urgency.

“It’s still the same,” Manuel said. “It’s a day-to-day thing. He’s slowly getting better. He’s slowly feeling better. Hopefully, he keeps going that way.“The slugging All-Star second baseman was diagnosed with patellar tendinitis in his right knee before the start of spring training, and Utley hasn’t played a game since. The Phillies are hoping that Utley will be back sometime before the All-Star break, possibly as soon as May.

So that takes care of that. Utley’s knee is still barking when he moves side to side, and until that resolves itself, he probably isn’t going to start jogging. He can’t run if he can’t jog, and he can’t play if he can’t run. So while Utley’s making progress, it hasn’t quite advanced to the level implied earlier.

But now we have some good news. Via Ken Rosenthal, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro says that Utley could start jogging within a few days.

It sounds so simple, but that would be a big step for Utley, whose movement has been limited. Only recently has he started fielding groundballs without the use of a chair, moving to his right. He’s also done some workouts underwater in an effort to test himself, but nothing that measures up to jogging.

Today, Chase Utley spoke at length to reporters about his knee injury, and Todd Zolecki took it all down (MLB.com). Zolecki’s big finish:

That’s the goal? Within three months? Not April or May or June, but before the All-Star break?

The team is doing “everything it possibly can” to get Utley better without putting him under the knife, but everybody is frustrated to some degree by his slow progress. Surgery remains a possibility down the road.

Utley is currently unable to run, and he can only field groundballs when sitting in a chair.

This could sound better, right? If Utley continues to non-respond to non-operative treatment, eventually there’s going to be an operation. Which would change the picture in the National League East, at least a little.