Chase Utley is continuing to be bothered by the same knee problems that've sidelined him all camp. Diagnosed with inflammation, tendinitis, and chondromalacia, Utley has had a cortisone shot, but unfortunately:
Chase Utley Making Slow Recovery From Knee Injury
Utley said to have "minimal improvement" since shot. Can hit and field but can't run. Valdez to play if utley still cant
Jon Heyman
SI_JonHeyman
On Thursday, the Phillies sent Utley to a rehab specialist to try and get him on the path to recovery. The Phillies have spoken about non-operative solutions before and this is certainly one of them, as the specialist worked with Utley on a few different techniques. It's clear from Ruben Amaro's words, however, that the Phillies don't really know what they're dealing with here:
“We’ve been researching different ways to try to handle it and help him improve and this was just one of the ways we felt that hopefully it will help him.”
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.
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