Chase Utley played in the field today:
With the team in Chicago on Wednesday, Utley fielded ground balls during batting practice, moving side-to-side at full speed for the duration of batting practice, Philly.com noted.
“He’s doing better,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “I think he’s feeling a little bit better.”
Fielding ground balls is a big step for Utley in his rehab. So far, Utley has taken batting practice and said he would wait until he was fully ready to do infield work, since fielding puts the most stress on his knees.
It could be he’s now weeks away (instead of months) from returning.
Utley could be getting better.
Or, perhaps his contract with Lucifer has come due and he is no longer the greatest player in baseball for a term of ten years.
He was really, really good there for a while. Reggie Jackson and Chase Utley – 5 HR in a World Series. You won’t see those numbers too often.
Well, I give Josh Hamilton an outside shot.
Seriously, Chase and his wife are lovely folks and do a lot of charity work. He’s taken a pounding. He led the NL in being hit by pitches something like three straight years and he never missed a game even when hurt for a long long time.
He should take his time. He’s given the Phils a lot. Five straight NL East titles and you can pretty much say that Utley was a key cog in all of them.
Art Kyriazis, Philly