Thursday, March 24, 2011

As expected, Chase Utley likely to begin season on DL

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is dealing with an assortment of issues with his right knee: patellar tendinitis, chondromalacia and bone inflammation.

As most had expected, the team's general manager has confirmed that Utley will most likely begin the season on the disabled list (DL).

"We haven't seen him on the field yet and we're a week away," Ruben Amaro Jr said, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. "It's likely he's not going to be making our club, at least not right now."

Even worse, it continues to appear as though his recovery will be on the longer side.

"Nothing new," Amaro said [of Utley's improvement]. "I think he feels better. We'll see. It's kind of a long-term process. It's not going to happen overnight."

Utley, who missed 47 games last season, is only two seasons removed from a 30-20 season in 2009.

And during the five-year span of 2005 to 2009, Utley had 100-plus runs and 100-plus runs batted in four times. (The two exceptions were 93 runs scored in 2005 and 93 RBIs in 2009.)

In ESPN fantasy baseball leagues, Utley has an average draft pick (ADP) of 63.9, which has dropped 10.6 spots over the past seven days.

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