Utley to play five innings; back this week?
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Utley to play five innings; back this week?
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
NEW YORK -- So much for that eight-week timetable.
Chase Utley will begin his official rehab assignment Saturday night with single-A Clearwater. He will play five innings. That means it's entirely possible Utley could rejoin the Phillies this week.
When Utley had surgery on his right thumb July 1, doctors estimated at least an eight-week recovery period. That would have put him on target for a return sometime around Sept. 1. As Utley has progressed the last few weeks, the Phillies stuck to that timetable.
Obviously, the second baseman has accelerated his recovery of late. Last Wednesday, he was given clearance to swing a bat. Three days later, he's already in a rehab game.
It's not the first time Utley has been a quick healer. After off-season hip surgery in 2008, the Phillies thought Utley would miss the first month of the season. He was ready before opening day.
If Utley follows similar rehab assignments from the past, he could need just three games for single-A Clearwater and rejoin the team in time for the series opener against the Giants at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday.
"Usually it won't take him a long time because he'll work at it, and he'll be ready," Charlie Manuel said Friday. "Actually I think with the time off, he's strong, and I look for him to come back and be really good."
More to come from the ballpark later.
That's cuz Utley is the MAN. Hey Howard - isn't it about time you sacked up and got back in the damned lineup?? You rolled your ankle ya big baby - if Chase comes back this week your a** better be right behind!!— thomaspfoolery- How can you not love this man? Hopefully he does not take too long to get back into rhythm and finds his stroke quickly.— truemoderate
- classy post, tom. i'd rather howard, a giant of a human being, take his time healing the ankle. he might have to put weight on it and stay balanced at some point when driving the ball out to left and center field...
- Hey thom...you'd roll your brain just reading about Howard's conditioning program...he'll be back when he's ready, no way he's milking this for time off...besides, comparing Utley to mere mortals is soooo unfair....welcome back Chase...Go Phils!!!— wvbillz
- I hope he's not rushing it - you know how he loves to crowd the plate and it only takes one hit to the thumb to knock him out again. Can't wait til he is back, though. and thomaspfoolery.....your name says it all....FOOL!— jimyd0315
- WOW
- Take your time Ut. Don't need to rush anything. Look at what happened to JRoll.— EL Zorro
- tomFOOLery...Howard will have his weight on his ankle 100% of the time. Utley will have pressure on his hands not nearly as much. You are a jack*ss— MacMan5
- would still luv to see Rube eat Baez's contract and trade him either straight up or with a pick or cash included for brian fuentes who has cleared waivers and would be available if the angels took on part of HIS salary but the particulars should work out to both sides and depending on the prospect, the angels would take on baez who has experience in AL,....could work Rube,....and welcome back Chase and don't HURRY back Ryan— SyddBarrett
- Thomas probably broke a nail just typing that post. You won't see him for 3-6 weeks. Uts and Ryno should not rush the recovery. We need them 100% recovered for the playoffs.— pizzzmoe
- Chase - your the man - but don't push it; be sure you are really ready to get back into the show.....— M60tanker
- When Ut comes back Dobber should goes back to AAA to see if he can figure out how to square up a pitch again. His stroke is so feeble. If he can not figure it out he should be done even for a Sept call up. Would like to see Galvis, Garcia and Rizzotti as Sept. position call ups to go along with D. Brown to infuse some young blood into that aging roster.— Dull
- boy is that good news....Valdez was solid defensively for the period Chase was out but gotta have the bat. Time to roll.— dabirds
- This is HUGE news! and the rehab games will tell if he's ready or not. As for Howard, a badly sprained ankle is sometimes worse than a break, as it never fully heals without pure "time" off the ankle. Valdez has been great defensively as his replacement and hit a respectable .250 , but he filled the number 8 slot where Utley was our #3 hitter.. Getting Chase, Howard and Vic back is better than any trade we could have made.. Bravo to the the replacements to keep us in the hunt, now let's show them why we are the Beasts of the East!!! Go Phillies!— fyreknight
- not surprised utley is coming back early.... i think it would be crazy for us to think he's going to come right out and be the utley of old...of course he wasnt the utley of old BEFORE he got hurt.... valdez has done a nice job, but utley at 60% is still a better option at second..and valdez can go back to being a utility guy, and we pray, Dobbs can get DFA'D, not picked up, head down to lehigh valley to september 1 and probably come back then... just as long as polanco and rollins dont aggravate their injuries...— jim715
