The Official Site of Chase Utley

Mon, Apr 6th 2009, 10:39

Utley looks like old self

It was 3 hours before game time and Chase Utley had a glove on his hand and impatience in his demeanor.

A baseball season was about to start and the Phillies’ second baseman seemed like a man who couldn’t wait as, surrounded by media, he was poised to spring from the clubhouse onto the field at Citizens Bank Park.

But why shouldn’t he be a bit more motivated and anxious than usual to get started?

The Phillies were playing just the second opener of their 127-year history as the defending World Series champion.

And Utley, having established himself in just four full seasons as the Phillies’ best offensive second baseman in that long history, wasn’t certain before he had right hip surgery Nov. 24 if he’d be available for the opener.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” the 30-year-old Californian said of what doctors initially felt might be a four- to six-month recovery.

But ready he was, thanks to surgery that turned out less invasive than feared and a diligent rehabilitation that continues.

Utley made his spring-training debut March 15.

“When he was operated on and they said it wasn’t as bad as they anticipated, and then when I came up here after the World Series and I saw him in there working out and how hard he was going at it … I knew he would be ready to play the opening day of the season,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Utley knew that when he was playing in Grapefruit League games in mid-March he’d be in the lineup opening night.

But how ready is he?

“There’s still a lot of work to be done. I still have to maintain it,” he said of the demanding daily rehab regimen.

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