Utley has cortisone injection; injury could be worse
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Utley has cortisone injection; injury could be worse
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The week-long rest for Chase Utley had done nothing to improve the patellar tendinitis in his right knee that has prevented the Phillies second baseman from playing this spring. So the team took the next step Friday morning and administered a cortisone injection into Utley's right knee.
The Phillies won't know for a few days if the cortisone shot works to alleviate the pain. There is some concern the injury could be worse than originally diagnosed.
"We feel it's patellar tendinitis," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "Could it be more than that? Perhaps. I just right now... that’s what we have."
Utley, who has experienced the tendinitis in his knee before, making it chronic, said it has never lingered this long.
"I've had it maybe in terms of pain here and there," Utley said. "But this is lingering longer than it has in the past. So with that said, there is a little bit of level of concern. But I think we're doing the right things to try to get it better."
Utley said he's concerned it could be worse, but doctors have not told him anything to indicate that. Amaro said the MRI done on Utley's knee Feb. 26 showed no structural damage.
"I think we have an idea of what's causing it, it's just not progressing," Amaro said.
The GM repeated it is patellar tendinitis. So what is the cause of that?
"We're still piecing this together," Amaro said.
Utley has been prevented from running or fielding drills since being diagnosed with the tendinitis. He is still hitting during batting practice and did so again Saturday.
Neither Amaro nor Utley would say what is next if the cortisone shot doesn't work.
"The whole goal for me is to try to get this fixed as soon as possible, but also keep it in perspective," Utley said. "I have to keep it right for the long haul as well. I think we're making the right progressions.
He added: "I don't think at this point I'd be much help to our team or to myself."
More to come in Sunday's Inquirer.
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Maybe I'm nut, but If there is some concern that the injury could be worse than simply patellar tendinitis, don't you think it's time to find out?— PhightinPhil- Not surprising at all. When someone is out with "general body soreness" on the first day of spring training, it's kind of a hint that something is wrong.— p-diddy
- jpgulli: Do you run with while wearing spikes? The condition varies widely in severity and the mechanics and pounding associated with running long distances versus sudden bursts of movement are totally different.— p-diddy
- I've done some reading about patellar tendinitis and here's what I think: The Phils should rest Utley for the first half of the season -- say, through mid-to-late June -- then hope he can make it through the second half and tell him to have surgery in the off-season. With a six-month recovery period, he'd be ready to play sometime next spring. Without surgery he's just going to keep aggravating the condition.— Dave Clemens
Comment removed.- I forgot about Josh Barfield. Maybe between Barfield, Delwyn Young and Michael Martinez the Phils can come up with decent enough infield depth this year. It's only spring training but all three of them have had some decent highlights already. And there's the depth at pitching to fall back on if we need to trad. I don't see a trade happening during spring training though. Assuming the starting rotation performs anywhere near the expectations, there's some room for some temporary offensive fall-off. Hate to say that of course ...— s
- Brown finally got a hit today so his trade value went up. 8-) Except they're saying he was then pulled and went off with the trainer. Yikes.— s
- Terrible news.— Steve Jeltz
- Diddy, Just went skiing in the mountains of Utah for five days straight with patellar tendonitis and I'm still standing. Chase must have a meniscus tear or something else.— jpgulli
- If it's a meniscus tear, which should be seen on the MRI, I'd be surprised. Utley pushes himself har; we all know that. The knee needs rest. The shot may get some of the inflammation down. If not, let him rest until he doesn't have the soreness.— OBLawyer
I'm no doc, but a cortizone shot in March is not a good sign.- I have a slight meniscus tear. Although I can still do heavy squats (with wraps), going up or down stairs kills me. And I can't run at all. I take the elevator whenever possible. Hope that Chase does not have this. As somebody else said above, Utley is a very, very old 32.— orange rhino
- The Phils and Utley are hiding a much more serious injury in the hopes it goes away. Send him to the top specialist in the country and get the diagnosis correct. Then treat it correctly.
- We have most of you here talking like you know a whole lot about this medical problem. Unless you have experienced it, or maybe you are all doctors this is pathetic. I think Utley knows how it feels and the team doctors know a lot more about it than you do. So just stop speculating and give it a break.— rich729
- Comment removed.
