Chase Utley

Chase Utley has been out of the Philadelphia Phillies lineup since June 28th with a thumb ligament injury, and Utley will likely be out until the middle of August.

The speed of Utley's return and how he plays once he's back will be crucial to determining whether the Philadelphia Phillies will be making their third straight World Series appearance in 2010.

Utley is just one of the Top 25 Players Who Will Be the Key to Their Team's Playoff Hopes.

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This article is a long time coming. I know the team is only 5.5 back in the division, but with the strength of the NL East and the National League in general, things may become very bleak on Broad Street.

This city of Philadelphia talks about 2008 like it was yesterday, the season where everything was perfect and the Phillies were kings of the world…guess what, it's not and they are slipping HARD.

In just a matter of days, things have gone from bad to worse for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Injuries and losses continue to mount, all the while the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets have increased their lead in the NL East.  And, division aside, the Phillies currently sit fifth in the Wild Card standings.

After a brief revival from the offense, it has seemingly gone back in the tank. Heck, pitchers must be starting to feel like they need to hurl a perfect game to win—although that almost didn't work for Roy Halladay.

The Philadelphia Phillies were hoping for the best case scenario with star second baseman Chase Utley, but on Thursday they got the worst case scenario.

The Phillies placed Utley on the 15-day DL on Wednesday with a strained ligament in his right thumb. They were hoping that he would only be out a couple of weeks, but after Thursday’s events he will be out more than just a couple of weeks.

Utley had surgery yesterday to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and is expected to miss the next eight weeks. That is a big blow to Phillies.

Middle infielders have been taking a beating this season with many of the top names having injury issues at some point in time.  Let’s get an update on some of the players currently nursing injuries:

(6/28/2010)

Cincinnati, OH -  Former Phillie Scott Rolen played game killer and Reds ace Johnny Cueto went eight strong innings as Cincinnati topped Philadelphia 7-3 in the opening contest of the three-game set at Great American Ballpark.

Rolen went 1-for-2 with three RBI including a towering two-run shot in the fourth to lead the Reds. Joey Votto and Orlando Cabrera both went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the win.

Reds starter Johnny Cueto (8-2) went eight innings, allowing one run on six hits and lowered his ERA to an impressive 3.74.

When you are a fan of a team like the Philadelphia Phillies, sometimes you'd rather score 10 runs and lose than score one run and win, particularly when your team has been struggling to score runs.

Saturday was one of those days.

The Phillies lost to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon by a score of 13-10 in a wild game in which the Phillies led 9-4 going into the ninth inning and managed to blow a five run lead.  

The Phils tossed the game when four different relievers allowed runs to give the game away the Twins in the later innings.

I’m sorry folks, I think I jinxed this one. With former Phillie Jim Thome at the plate in the ninth inning with the Phillies up by five runs, I said to my dad and brother, “I wouldn’t mind if he hit a home run right here. We would still be up by three and I don’t see us losing this game.

"Plus, I kinda want Thome to have more homers than that lying steroid user Rafael Palmeiro.”

It sounds funny, doesn't it?

Chase Utley is being challenged for the starting job at second base for this year’s National League All-Star team.

Up until this year, that was a preposterous thought, but seemingly out of the woodwork.

Where did the best second baseman in baseball go?

Chase Utley’s batting average continues to go down the tube. Starting at well over .300, it’s been a slow dissent to the .200’s. It doesn’t take much to notice he’s struggling.

In his last 10 games Utley’s only managed to squeak out a .206 average at his 34 appearances at the plate. Combine his four runs and seven hits with his four strikeouts and 0 stolen bases and it doesn’t add up to much.