The Official Site of Chase Utley

Thu, Aug 12th 2010, 10:28

Utley working his way back

By day, Chase Utley was taking his first swings in more than six weeks only a few hours after receiving medical clearance, then by night Placido Polanco was in the lineup extending his hitting streak to 10 games the day after leaving a game with more left elbow soreness.

At long last, the Phillies’ updated medical report offered a couple swigs of encouragement in a season where the ballclub has already seen 15 players serve 17 disabled list stints.

As usual, though, another injury arrived soon enough when fill-in first baseman Ross Gload hobbled his way off the field and out of Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers after straining his right groin running out a sixth-inning double.

Utley, who is recovering from July 1 right thumb surgery, received great news after being re-examined in New York by Dr. Andrew Weiland at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Because Utley’s thumb is healing as expected, the five-time All-Star second baseman was told he can resume hitting activities and continue shooting to rejoin the Phillies around Sept. 1, which would be eight weeks since undergoing surgery.

Utley immediately headed straight from Manhattan to Citizens Bank Park and hit off a tee before the Phillies-Los Angeles Dodgers’ game.

“It’s very positive news from our perspective,” Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said of Utley, who tore ligaments in his thumb sliding into second base in a June 29 game at Cincinnati. “From this point forward, it’s going to be a matter of how he feels and how he progresses.

“We were on the eight-week timetable to begin with and I don’t think anything has changed from that perspective. If it progresses faster than that, great. If it progresses slower than that, great. The main thing is that Chase is healthy and ready to play at his full capacity when he comes back.”

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