Utley to play five innings; back this week?
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Utley to play five innings; back this week?
Matt Gelb
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.
Comments (24)
Hopefully he's not rushing. The way he plays, he'd be destined to reinjure if he comes back too soon.— kmon- chuckw.....well said! These are the same posters that are down in mommy's basement playing Wii and thinking it's the real game.....in other words.... LOSERS!— jimyd0315
- Let's see: Howard is a wimp. Really? At 6:4, 255 pounds, he played in 159 games in 2006, 144 games in 2007, 162 in 2008, 160 in 2009 and when hurt had played in all 103 games this year, plus 32 postseason games. During that period, both regular and postseason, he hit 228 home runs and drove in 680 runs. Yea, a real wimp and loser. One genius poster the other night suggested that the Phillies are better with Gload and Sweeney than with Howard and should continue to play them. Where do these posters come from? Will be great to have both Howard and Utley back, but the Phillies now need to get Victorino and Rollins hitting more effectively and more consistently.— chuckw
- ppl need to get off Howard's left n*t...tha mans played more games int he last 2 yrs than anyone else on the team and is a big man to be carryin all that weight on that ankle..perhaps some of u never rolled over an ankle before n dont kno how it feels....he comes back early n hurts his ankle again than the same ppl will be b*tchin cuz he came back to early...— StrugzTW
- Ryan H. had a long consecutive game streak broken last year when he got sick -- came out of hospital where he was getting fluids to pinch hit a game-winning homer - then went back in hospital. 'Nuff said on his toughness or willingness to play.— 2dsacker
- Howard's injury is so much diff than a thumb. Ut and Howie are both amazing MLB players and will be back ASAP. That's bad news for the NL. Go get em Champs!— Nails
- gotta love how the big guns are getting back in time and the phils are hot...this should give us some huge momentum for the last month and a half..expecting that standard hot run and overtaking the braves. LETS GO!— philsfan in the atx
- Tom you're clearly an idiot. Howard isn't eligible to come off the DL until Tuesday moron.— Matt
- Nobody & I mean NOBODY is going to take Baez. That guy is total failure. You definitely aren't getting Fuentes back for him. Why do people think these deals are so easy to pull off? Some big JA Happ fan was all whiny about the Oswalt deal & said, "Why couldn't they have traded them Romero & Baez for him?" How about because those guys suck? Also, Chase Utley is not real. I think he's like that Terminator that thinks he's a real guy & never really gets hurt. He just needs repairs every now & then.— CinematicallyCorrect
- 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
- 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
- boy is that good news....Valdez was solid defensively for the period Chase was out but gotta have the bat. Time to roll.— dabirds
- 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
- Chase - your the man - but don't push it; be sure you are really ready to get back into the show.....— M60tanker
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Take your time Ut. Don't need to rush anything. Look at what happened to JRoll.— EL Zorro
- WOW
- 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
- 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
- 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...
- 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
- 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
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