Phillies Notes: Utley likely to get 'mental break' until Friday

ATLANTA - Yet another hitless night Monday led Ryne Sandberg to omit Chase Utley's name from his Tuesday lineup card. The Phillies manager said there is "a pretty good possibility" that the struggling second baseman will sit Wednesday, too, giving him a three-day "mental break" ahead of Friday's series opener against the Mets.

"As much mental work and effort and everything that Chase puts into a daily routine of his and not having any luck along with it," Sandberg said before the game against the Braves, "that's the way that I'm leaning right now."

A prolonged slump to begin the season has Utley hitting .103 with an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of just .389. Both marks ranked dead last among qualified major-league hitters entering Tuesday's games.

Utley, 36, has not doubled in 87 at-bats. He had 10 through the same number of at-bats last season, when he was an all-star for the sixth time. He is hitless in 15 at-bats since his home run Friday in Miami. Despite his struggles, Utley's 14 RBIs still led the Phillies going into Tuesday.

"It's hard to talk mechanics and 'Try this, try that' when the guy is hitting line drives and hitting the ball and putting the ball in play and continuing to do that," Sandberg said. "I think that's where it's just necessary for the mental side of the game to just take a break from that."

Although Utley has not swung the bat nearly as well as he did early last season, it's not a stretch to say he has experienced some poor luck. His batting average with balls in play, a sabermetric stat that factors in luck and the opposition's defense, is an unsightly (and major-league worst) .082. The major-league average is .293.

Utley's health is not a problem, Sandberg insisted. In the veteran's stead, the manager slotted third baseman Cody Asche into the No. 3 spot in his lineup Tuesday. Cesar Hernandez played second base.

In an effort to keep Darin Ruf's hot bat in the lineup while maintaining speed at the top of the order, Sandberg played Ben Revere in right field. It was Revere's first time there since 2012, when he played 84 games in right for the Twins. He has experience in all three outfield spots.

"As long as I'm in the lineup," Revere said, "I'm all good."

Sean O'Sullivan (left knee tendinitis) is set to throw between 70 and 80 pitches in his rehab start Thursday with single-A Lakewood. He said he should need only one rehab outing, putting him in line to pitch for the Phillies on May 12, the next time they need a fifth starter. . . . The Phillies traded triple-A outfielder Darin Mastroianni to the Nationals for cash. . . . Lefthander Elvis Araujo pitched a scoreless sixth inning in his major-league debut.