Phillies prepare to face Chase Utley for first time on Monday

SAN DIEGO - Carlos Ruiz has thought about what it will be like when Chase Utley, wearing a white Dodgers uniform, steps into the batter's box Monday to face the Phillies. The two men were teammates for a decade. Utley, one of the most iconic players in Phillies history, carries a certain level of respect.

It has been almost a year since the Phillies traded him to Los Angeles. And, still, it will be jarring to see him play against his former team.

"If I'm kneeling down waiting for a pitch, I don't even know how I'm going to look at him," Ruiz said. "Or how he's going to look at me."

Ruiz knows one thing: "For sure, he's going to say something."

Utley, 37, has played against all but one of the teams in baseball during his decorated 14-year career. The Phillies go to Dodger Stadium this week for three games. Next week, the Dodgers and Utley come to Citizens Bank Park.

"It'll be interesting," Ryan Howard said. He is looking forward to a chance to just say hello. Howard and Utley stay in contact, but the two friends have not been separated for this long since their early 20s, before they helped create one of the greatest periods in franchise history.

"It's probably more of a question for the fans, of how they're going to feel," Howard said. "When we go back home, he comes back. Just like anybody you played with and then play against, it's always different."

Utley, who re-signed with the Dodgers for $7 million, started this season strong but later cooled off. Overall, he has improved upon career-worst numbers from last season. Entering Sunday's game, he had a .703 OPS and had started in 80 of Los Angeles' 111 games.

Howard said it will be much like playing against Jimmy Rollins, who returned to Citizens Bank Park around this same time last season.

Four of the seven active players from the 2008 team will be at Dodger Stadium on Monday. There's Howard, Ruiz and Utley - plus Joe Blanton, who has resurrected his career as a reliever. Blanton has a 2.68 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 17 walks in 57 innings.

The other '08 players still active are Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth, and Ryan Madson.

"It's going to be very special, even to say hi to him, because I never thought we would play on different teams," Ruiz said of Utley. "I don't really know what I'm going to feel. It's different to watch someone on TV as opposed to doing it in person. It's definitely going to be a very exciting moment."

Ruiz had three singles, drove in a run and scored another in Sunday's 6-5 win. The veteran catcher is hitting .262 with a .722 OPS. . . . The Phillies are 60-26 (.698) against San Diego since 2004, their best winning percentage against any opponent in that span. . . . They will see Los Angeles' best pitching prospect, Julio Urias, on Monday. Urias, 19, has a 4.98 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) after rocketing through the minors. Zach Eflin, who spent one day as property of the Dodgers two winters ago, will pitch for the Phillies.