Amaro: Utley remains the "same"
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There is no change in Chase Utley's status, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said this morning. Utley has yet to play in a Grapefruit League game while sidelined with patellar tendinitis.
Amaro: Utley remains the "same"
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There is no change in Chase Utley's status, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said this morning. Utley has yet to play in a Grapefruit League game while sidelined with patellar tendinitis.
The second baseman has been shut down from doing anything besides hitting since Sunday.
Here's a little back-and-forth between Amaro and reporters this morning:
Q: Any update on Utley?
AMARO: Same.
Q: No running, no fielding?
AMARO: Same.
Q: No dissipation of the tendinitis?
AMARO: Same. Status quo.
Q: Is that bad news?
AMARO: It's not good news or bad news. It's same news.
So that about sums it up. Amaro said he told Utley on Wednesday he would like to see his second baseman play in 10 games this spring. For Utley to be able to do that, the latest he could return to action is March 21 and play every day after then.
The GM said he has not altered any plans yet, like say acquiring another infielder as insurance.
"I'm not going to be doing anything else because of this," Amaro said. "I mean, we'll watch some of the other guys [in camp] play, but we expect him to be our second baseman."
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I dont think they know whats his status will be but they have their fingers crossed. Of course a lot of people think they know and some genius will accuse him of roids.— Don w- It's not always easy to relax when you have a player who plays through injuries and doesn't tell you when he has one...One top of that you have reporters up their noses asking if there is new news about it...— phigglesfan75
- It's not unlikely that Utley has already had a corticosteroid injection and the protocol is to rest for at least three weeks after that for the inflammation to subside.— expatinva
- Cliff Lee will play second on his off-days. Just relax; it's the first week in March.— smel4727
- Looks like he'll be on the DL a lot this year— farley
- They keep saying tendinitis but when have Utley or the Phillies ever told the truth about Utley's injuries? I'm betting it's arthritis and will be a chronic problem.— r white
- I dislocated my kneecap twice in my teenage years and have this condition. It does not flare up often, but when it does, it's a bear. It actually feels like there's pain in the back of the knee, that also runs down the calf. It's no picnic.— Big_Show
- my non phily fans laugh at me for "whining" about Utley. they say phils don't need utley with their pitching staff. me, i think this is the beginning of a long and injury fraught season. as well as some major disappointments with already one being the infamous dom brown.— ziggy26
- I think a side effect of roids is an increased chance of things like tendinitis. So for McGwire it makes sense. I'm not saying Chase juiced.— AEPi71
- Hit the phones, Ruben. Gonna need a decent backup 2B this year if/when Utley goes under the knife.— jpk
- Patellar tendinitis is a chronic condition that can go on for years. It basically ended Mark MCGwire's career, well that and the steroid testing, too. Chase's game will be severely affected this year, especially his power numbers if it's his back leg. If he had surgery it's a 3-6 month recovery regardless. He will not be "cured" by March 21 and anyone that tells you that is blowing smoke up your skirt.— Mark1npt
- Yeah and then if Utley were to not play for the next week or two without any news than everyone would be yelling that the beat writers arent doing there jobs because there is no news on our starting 2nd baseman's status.— guyguy4
- Let me amend my first comment, no news is bad news for newspapers— eicholson
- When we hear that Utley has boarded a flight back to Philadelphia to see team doctors, we'll all know that the surgery is about to be scheduled.— psuflyers
- Disagree. No news is fine on March 3. If it's March 23, then no news is troublesome. The media really need to chill out with the daily pestering of Amaro/Utley. If I were calling the shots, I'd shut Utley down for a week or two as well. Exactly what is the benefit of pushing him at this point? Better safe than sorry. People need to relax and the media, especially, need to stop beating stories to death.— UncleEddie
- no news is bad news— eicholson
