Utley downplays loud grinding sound coming from knee
While Chase Utley made his return to the Phillies lineup on Monday after missing the start of the season with patellar tendinitis, the second baseman continues to downplay the sound of bone grinding on bone coming from the his right knee and insists he is OK to play.
“Seriously, it’s nothing. I’m good,” Utley shouted to reporters over the loud, chilling sound his knee made as he sat down in front of his locker. “Charlie [Manuel] said to let him know if it starts to bother me and that’s what I’m gonna do. But for now, it feels awesome.”
Utley also responded to reports of hearing several loud popping noises from his knee by saying that he would play through it and “get that checked out at some point.”
Phillies release Roy Oswalt after fastball drops to 91 mph
The Phillies cut ties with pitcher Roy Oswalt on Friday after the velocity on the former ace’s fastball dropped to a mere 91 mph during a rehab start with the Clearwater Threshers on Thursday.
Out since April 26 to tend to his family after tornadoes swept through his home in Mississippi, Oswalt allowed an unprecedented seven hits and three earned runs in just five innings of work, signaling the end of his brief Phillies career.
“We hoped Roy would be back to pitch for us at some point, but obviously he is no longer fit to play professional baseball,” said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro. “We wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do with his life, but with a pathetic 91 mph fastball, that doesn’t leave him very many career options.”
The Phillies also announced that Chase Utley survived a harrowing jog to first base during a rehab game on Thursday and while the infielder was visibly shaken, he is now resting comfortably at a local hospital.
Utley’s injury leaves Howard struggling to hit over .500
Through the Phillies first six games of the season, the absence of Chase Utley could be felt up and down the lineup, but no more so than with Ryan Howard, who continues to struggle to keep his batting average above .500.
Before the season began, several baseball experts predicted that the Phillies offense would struggle without their All-Star second baseman, but as Howard said Thursday, no one could have predicted it would be this bad.
“It’s getting hard to get up in the morning,” said an emotional Howard, who saw his average dip to .480 after a 1-for-4 showing against the Mets on Thursday. “I really don’t know what’s going on right now. You try to change your approach at the plate and watch video, but nothing works and your average stays around .500. It’s, like, really frustrating.”
Report: Ryan Howard healthy
While the Phillies continue to deal with injuries to Chase Utley, Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco and Domonic Brown, a report released on Friday claims that first baseman Ryan Howard remains in good health.
General manager Ruben Amaro responded to the report on Friday, but could not confirm if Howard was in fact healthy.
“I spoke with Ryan a few minutes ago and he said he felt great, but as of right now, I can’t confirm if he still feels great,” Amaro said. “But as soon as Ryan or any other players tell us they’re healthy, we’ll let you know.”
As of press time, as many as two more Phillies players were reported to be healthy and ready to start the season.
Utley says knee will probably respond well to crab fries
Although Chase Utley’s ailing right knee has yet to respond to treatment up to this point, the All-Star second baseman said he is confident that some crab fries would help the situation.
“I mean as long as we’re trying different things that don’t work, we might as well try some crab fries to see if that helps things,” Utley said to reporters on Thursday. “How can we know if the cure to mild patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia isn’t a big plate of crab fries and cheese unless we try, right?”
Phillies team doctors agreed to begin crab fries treatment for Utley’s knee as long as he agrees to share some with the rest of the team.
Utley out indefinitely with routine pre-pre-season soreness
Chase Utley, who missed his second straight Spring Training game on Sunday, will be sidelined indefinitely with routine before-the-preseason-even-starts soreness, according to the Phillies.
“This sort of thing happens every year with a lot of guys,” general manager Ruben Amaro said of Utley’s condition. “When you rest for months at a time and then go straight into light Spring Training workouts, you’re bound to get a little sore and have to miss a few games. Routine stuff.”
Though the Phillies do not consider Utley’s condition to be serious, the team had the second baseman airlifted to a nearby hospital on Sunday for routine tests.
Sense of urgency finally starting to kick in for Phillies
A strong sense of urgency has reportedly come over the Phillies, who currently trail the Giants four games to two in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series.
“We’re just now starting to realize that time was running out and it was either then or never,” Chase Utley said while resting in his home on Thursday. “We’re finally ready to do what we should have done to beat the Giants.”
The Phillies, who have one of the oldest rosters in the majors, plan to approach this offseason and upcoming regular season with a sense of calm and restraint before switching back to a sense of urgency around mid-July.
Phillies players urged to donate ‘anything at all’ to lineup
The Philadelphia Phillies are teaming up with fans and the Get Your Ass In Gear Foundation to try and prevent early onset elimination and are now urging players to get involved.
“Our best chance at beating this thing is if the players start to get involved,” said GYAIGF chairman Steven Hughes. “I know a lot of them are probably thinking ‘Well, I’m only one person, my contribution doesn’t mean much,’ but that’s not true. A single hit from Raul Ibanez or even Chase Utley could mean the difference in this battle against watching a Rangers-Giants World Series. And no one wants to see that happen.”
Hughes went on to say that he got the idea to ask for players’ contributions after watching the Giants solicit their players with great success in Game 3.
Phillies hope to fill void at second base with infielder Utley
After several unsuccessful attempts to permanently fill their hole at second base, the Phillies will turn to infielder Chase Utley in a move some are already calling ‘desperate’.
“It’s getting late in the season and the trade deadline has past, so our options are limited right now,” said general manager Ruben Amaro. “I hope this kid can play.”
The Phillies, who considered trading for help at second base just last month, have used Wilson Valdez at the position and even moved Placido Polanco over from third base to try and solve the growing problem up the middle. Now out of options, the team will rely on Utley to carry the load for the rest of the season.
“Hopefully, Utley will give us a guy we can count on for this year and possibly into the future,” said Jimmy Rollins. “But, we don’t want to put too much pressure on the guy. Whatever he can give us is fine.”
Sources close to the Phillies indicate that the team will now turn its attention to filling another void by acquiring left-handed first baseman Ryan Howard.
Amaro considers shaking the hell out of entire Phillies roster
General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced Wednesday that he has thought about shaking the living shit out of his entire 25-man roster, which could happen as soon as this weekend.
Since May 22, the Phillies are just 7-15 and have struggled at the plate, hitting just .216 as a team over that span.
“We’re not making any major moves here,” Amaro said after Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Yankees. “I’m just going to gently put my hands around each of my players’ necks and proceed to shake the life out of them until they wake up and realize they’re elite professional athletes again. That’s all.”
Amaro will monitor the progress of his team after the shaking and said that, if necessary, he will “trade the shit out of every last player on the team, with the exception of Chase Utley, for he can do no wrong.”
