Phillies Notebook: Phillies plot strategy with Utley, Polanco on DL

CINCINNATI - However many flaws exist within this Phillies clubhouse, resiliency is not one of them. Even on a day when their front office sent half of their infield and two-thirds of the top of their lineup to the disabled list, the reaction among the players was mostly bemused shakes of the head and rote declarations of the need to play harder.

But outside of that clubhouse, where folks like Ruben Amaro Jr., Scott Sheridan and Charlie Manuel are charged with keeping a careful eye on the big picture, there seemed to be an understanding that yesterday was one of those days that can serve as a turning point in a season.

The big question, now, is which way these Phillies will turn.

A clearer picture of the severity of Chase Utley's thumb sprain should come today, when the star second baseman, who went on the DL yesterday, is scheduled to visit hand specialist Randall Culp in Philadelphia for a second opinion.

Same goes for third baseman Placido Polanco, who also was placed on the DL. Today, Polanco will visit a doctor in Philadelphia for another examination of the sore elbow that has plagued him since he was hit by a pitch in Atlanta in late April.

"We're going to know a lot more [today]," said Sheridan, the Phillies' fourth-year head athletic trainer.

Together, Utley and Polanco had accounted for 152 of the 353 runs - 43 percent, either in runs scored or driven in - the Phillies scored in their first 74 games. They were the two Phillies who entered the week leading their positions in fan voting for the National League All-Star team. Take their numbers out of the equation, and the team's batting average drops from .259 to .248.

And the Phillies could be without at least one of them for an extended period of time.

While Sheridan expressed some doubt about whether surgery is a possibility for Polanco, that option will be considered for Utley, who was hurt Monday night sliding headfirst into second base in the fourth inning of the Phillies' 7-3 loss to the Reds.

Utley, who is hitting .277 with a .383 on-base percentage and 11 home runs, left for the airport before the clubhouse opened to reporters, but, according to his manager, was, by no means, pleased with the immediate prognosis he received after an MRI exam yesterday morning.

"He wasn't in a talking mood," said Manuel, who now has seven key contributors on the disabled list and six players who have spent time at Triple A Lehigh Valley on his active roster. "Neither was I."

Sprains may range from first-degree to third, with higher-grade sprains featuring significant tearing, and third-degree being a complete tear of the ligament (in Utley's case, the ulnar collateral ligament).

Surgery to repair a thumb ligament generally sidelines a position player for 6 to 10 weeks. Third baseman Andy LaRoche, then with the Dodgers, was back playing competitively after 7 1/2 weeks in 2008 after thumb surgery. Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell was handed a prognosis of 6 to 8 weeks this past offseason after surgery to repair a ligament that was 95 percent torn.

Nonsurgical treatments can last significant amounts of time as well. In 2001, Marlins outfielder Preston Wilson missed 5 weeks, spending the first 2 in a cast, after he sprained his UCL diving for a catch against the Phillies.

Utley will hope for a recovery along the lines of Indians outfielder Coco Crisp, who in May 2005 was initially handed a 3-month prognosis after suffering a high-grade sprain of his UCL while sliding into third base. After a subsequent visit to a hand specialist, Crisp's prognosis was dialed back to a mere 2 to 3 weeks - he was back on the field after 16 days and went on to hit .305 with an .822 on-base plus slugging percentage and 13 home runs in the final 107 games of the season.

Because of this uncertainty, the Phillies repeatedly declined to provide a rough timetable for the recoveries of either Utley or Polanco.

"We're just going to figure out where we're headed first," Sheridan said. "A lot depends on how we decide to treat it."

And how they decide to treat it will have a big bearing on the Phillies' strategy for replacing both players. The first two roster moves saw veteran third baseman Greg Dobbs, designated for assignment and outrighted just last week, and light-hitting utilityman Brian Bocock recalled from Triple A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies would have liked to recall third baseman Cody Ransom, who has seen action in seven big-league seasons and has 16 home runs at Lehigh Valley this season and a career .401 slugging percentage in the majors. That still might happen, Manuel said. But the front office is waiting to receive a prognosis on Ransom's knee, which has caused him problems recently. Ransom was supposed to visit a team doctor last night.

Assistant GM Scott Proefrock did not rule out acquiring a veteran infielder, the route the Phillies took in 2007, when Utley missed a month with a broken hand and was quickly - and adequately - replaced via a trade for White Sox veteran Tadahito Iguchi.

"Now, our focus may be a little different than it was," Proefrock said, "but we'll explore whatever options are available. The main thing, I think, is we need to find out the length of both Polly and Chase's stays on the DL, and that we don't know just yet." *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.