Utley suffers fractured hand in Phils' loss

Chase Utley sounded like a confident man yesterday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, but his optimism could not ease the troubled look on Charlie Manuel's face or the evident feeling in Philadelphia that this injury could cost the Phillies another shot at the postseason.

"I'll be back," Utley promised. "Don't worry, guys."

Utley suffered a broken right hand when lefthander John Lannan hit him with a pitch in the fifth inning of yesterday's 7-6 loss to the Washington Nationals. Both the Phillies and Utley insist the injury will not finish his season. Utley, who will be placed on the disabled list, will visit hand specialist Randall Culp today to see what course of action he needs to take to return to the field as quickly as possible.

He suffered a fractured fourth metacarpal, the bone at the base of the ring finger. Surgery is an option. The team would not speculate on how long Utley would need to recover.

"There is a best case and there is a worst case," Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

The best case?

"We absolutely believe that he will back this year, yes," Amaro said. "We actually feel pretty good after the diagnosis from Dr. [Michael] Ciccotti [the team's director of medical services]. As dismal as this situation may sound, we actually feel pretty confident that he's going to be back in a pretty timely fashion. On a scale of a 0 to 10, it was probably a 2 to 3 type of a fracture, zero being the most mild."

The worst case?

"The hand will fall off?" Utley said.

Utley, 28, kept his sense of humor, even with his hand swollen and sore. He said he thinks he could be back on the field in less than a month, although no one is certain if that is realistic.

But even if he misses just three weeks, it would be a tremendous blow to a team that had just started to hit its stride.

"It's definitely disappointing that I'm going to be out for a while," said Utley, who started the All-Star Game at second base. "But this team has a lot of character. We've had a lot of injuries, a lot of pitchers have been down. We're still there. We're right in the hunt. We have two months to go. And I expect to still be in the hunt come October."

Utley was a leading candidate for National League MVP before the injury. He was hitting .336 with 17 home runs and 82 RBIs. He ranked first in the league in doubles (41) and was among the top six in average, RBIs, runs (79), total bases (232), hits (134), slugging percentage (.581), on-base percentage (.414), and multihit games (38).

"What do you want me to say?" Manuel said. "Utley, to me . . . he's huge. I mean, what the hell? He's a big, big part of our offense. He's a big part of our defense. He's a huge part of our team. We're losing one of our best players."

Abraham Nuñez is expected to take Utley's place at second base.

The door that leads to the coaches' room and manager's office in the Phillies' clubhouse remained closed until about 70 minutes after the game ended. Inside that room, the Phillies' brain trust discussed the injury and tried to figure out what to do.

Other major-leaguers have missed substantial time with this injury. Cleveland's Travis Hafner missed the rest of the season after he suffered a broken fourth metacarpal Sept. 1 last year. Milwaukee's Jeff Cirillo broke the same bone on June 24, 2005, and did not return to action until Sept. 2.

But it is not known how those breaks compare with the one Utley suffered.

"From everything I've heard from the doctors so far, they're pretty optimistic," Utley said.

Utley has been hit 17 times this season, which leads the majors. He winced as the pitch struck his hand, but he remained in the game. Lannan then hit Ryan Howard in the back with his next pitch, prompting plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt to eject the lefthander, who was making his major-league debut.

No one from either team thought Lannan threw at Utley and Howard intentionally.

"I wish I would have gotten out of the way of this one," Utley said. "It was an 0-2 pitch. I don't think he was trying to hit me. I think it kind of got away from him. He's a young guy. He hit two guys in a row, but I don't think he was throwing at us.

"I knew it bothered me once I got hit, but I didn't think it was enough to come out of the game. It was sore. It was definitely sore. But at that point, there was no point in coming out. You have to play through pain sometimes."

The Phillies said they do not believe Utley made the injury any worse by remaining in the game.

Lannan said afterward, "If I could have gotten his attention, I probably would have said, 'I'm sorry.' "

It wouldn't have helped. But right now, Utley has to hope the break is mild enough that he can return to the lineup quickly and help the Phillies make a push to their first postseason berth since 1993.

Otherwise, Phillies fans once again will have to wonder: What if?

The Phillies suffered perhaps their worst injury of the season yesterday when Chase Utley broke his right hand.

The team's other major injuries this season:

Freddy Garcia. He has been on the disabled list since June 9 with a strained right shoulder. The Phillies aren't planning for him to pitch again this season, although he continues to work toward that goal.

Jon Lieber. He went on the DL June 21 after he ruptured a tendon in his right foot. He underwent surgery and will miss the rest of the season.

Brett Myers. He went on the DL May 24 with a strained right shoulder. He will be activated before tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park.

Tom Gordon. He landed on the DL May 2 with right rotator cuff inflammation. The Phillies activated him July 16.

Ryan Howard. He missed 15 days in May because of a strained left quadriceps.

Ryan Madson. He spent time on the DL in May because of a strained abdominal muscle.

Jayson Werth. He has been on the disabled since June 29 with a strained left wrist. He is on a rehab assignment in single-A Clearwater.

- Todd Zolecki

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