The Official Site of Chase Utley

Fri, Jul 2nd 2010, 09:57

Utley out eight weeks after thumb surgery

Can the Phillies survive this?

Chase Utley had surgery Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. The Phillies said their star second baseman will miss approximately eight weeks. It is a major blow to the Phils, who have six other players on the disabled list.

The list includes third baseman Placido Polanco, who will miss three to four weeks with inflammation in his left elbow.

“We’ll find a way,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said before Thursday’s game against the Pirates at PNC Park. “We’re not going anywhere. No one in this clubhouse is going to fold. No one is going to feel sorry in this clubhouse. We dang sure know they’re not going to feel sorry for us outside this clubhouse. They still have to knock us off, and they’re out there trying to do it, but we’ll keep fighting to hold on.”

Hand specialist Andrew Weiland performed Utley’s surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Phillies head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan said Utley, who tore the ligament from the bone, will be in a splint for five weeks. Once the splint is removed, he will begin range-of-motion exercises. The eight weeks includes rehab time in the Minor Leagues, but if the eight-week estimate holds, Utley would not return to the Phillies until late August or early September.

Is there any chance he could return earlier?

“Obviously, I’ve worked with Chase a lot,” Sheridan said. “Nobody is going to work harder than he is. If it could happen, I would bet on him before I’d bet on other people.”

Utley, who injured his thumb Monday in Cincinnati, has done a good job coming back from injuries on or ahead of schedule. He had surgery on a broken right wrist on July 27, 2007, with the estimated return three to four weeks. He returned Aug. 28. Utley had surgery on his right hip Nov. 24, 2008, with the estimated return four to six months. He made the Opening Day 2009 lineup.

Continue reading….