Sobering Utley issues cloud Phillies' sunshine state

CLEARWATER, Fla. - This is why pennants aren't won in December, why world championships aren't won in January.

This is why even the most sturdy-looking rosters in February and March are subject to the whims and caprice of fate that can impact everything that happens after that.

Chase Utley stood and talked in the leftfield corner of a nearly deserted Bright House Field for 8 minutes yesterday morning. The buses taking the players who were traveling to Lakeland for the scheduled exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers had long since departed. The All-Star second baseman was once again left behind.

When camp opened 3 weeks ago, the focus was on Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, pillars of an impressive starting rotation that supported a belief that this Phillies team could accomplish something special before the bright night lights blinked off for the final time this season at the end of the World Series.

Now all the attention has shifted to Utley or, more specifically, to his troublesome right knee. The fret level has been rising steadily. At the risk of being labeled a gloomsayer, the latest developments have formed a dark cloud over a spring training that until now has been all sunshine, both literally and figuratively.

For the first time it's possible to wonder aloud if the patellar tendinitis that has dogged Utley all spring might disrupt his entire 2011 season. In fact, somebody did, asking bluntly if he anticipates being able to play at all this year.

"My goal is to alleviate this as quickly as possible but still keep in mind that I have a career ahead of me," Utley said.

Hmmmmm.

That wasn't the only cryptic clue he dropped. He talked about having to remember the long run. He said he wasn't trying to find the easy way out. Twice he mentioned the necessity of keeping the big picture in mind.

"We're not going to look for the short-term solution. I want to be smart about this and realize that I have 3 years left under this contract to fulfill," he said at another point.

Hmmmmm.

He said surgery was a last resort and that he planned to exhaust every other possibility first. But if an operation would solve the problem and allow him to be back in the lineup in, say, 4 to 6 weeks, why not go ahead and get it out of the way?

"What you said would make sense. But it's not that cut and dried," he replied.

Hmmmmm.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. made similar references to having to think beyond the near future.

"For us, this is a long-term thing," he said. "Frankly, I do not care if he's making Opening Day, if he's not making Opening Day. For us, this is for him to be able to play long term. Long term meaning through this year, through next year, through the following year. This is something we want to make sure he is 100 percent when he gets on the field so that we don't have any missteps beyond that. That's really the goal here, and that's why we've been holding him back so much."

Hmmmmm.

Amaro went on to say that the organization isn't even talking about the possibility of Utley missing the entire season. Still, the world long-jump record wouldn't be threatened if anyone leaped to the conclusion that Utley is so intent on trying to avoid surgery because he believes that any sort of procedure could potentially sideline him for a really, really long time.

The good news here is that, even in the worst-case scenario, the Phillies are a deep and talented team fully capable of making it to the playoffs and even winning it all for the second time in the last 4 years. That while they appear to be somewhat hamstrung by another record payroll and a lack of major league-ready prospects to spare, a trade is always a possibility. And that if all else fails, Wilson Valdez demonstrated while filling in for Jimmy Rollins at shortstop that he can be at least an adequate replacement.

The concern is that if they lose Utley, they'll be without their No. 3 hitter. They'd already lost their No. 5 hitter when Jayson Werth found his pot of gold with the Washington Nationals. An uphill climb becomes just a bit steeper.

That means just a little more pressure on Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino and Rollins to bounce back from subpar seasons, on Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz and Placido Polanco to help pick up the slack.

The bigger issue is that this is a sobering reminder of the havoc that injuries can wreak on even the best-laid plans, another wake-up call to add to the alarms that went off earlier in camp when it was revealed that Lee had experienced some discomfort in the area of his shoulder.

A chain reaction of injuries can sabotage even the best teams. No matter how many headline-grabbing, free-agent signings a team makes in the winter, no matter how much irrational exuberance is generated to warm the cold winter months, nothing is won before the regular season starts.

As if the Phillies didn't know that already.

Send e-mail to hagenp@phillynews.com