Chase Utley is on the DL right now for the Philadelphia Phillies, don’t expect to see him immediately slide back into their lineup with the familiar “4” next to his name.
Before Tuesday’s game with the Dodgers in Los Angeles, GM Ruben Amaro was asked about Utley’s role when he returned. Amaro didn’t commit to Utley at second base, and instead backed the relatively inexperienced Cesar Hernandez.
Via CSN Philly…
“Not for me he’s not,” Amaro said. “Cesar Hernandez is our best second baseman. I would assume that Cesar would be our second baseman. I think that’s fair.
“Chase’s situation will kind of dictate itself. How he feels will dictate his timeframe to play, I think. He could play some first base. He could play some second. But as far as I’m concerned, our plan has been to give opportunities to young men who could be part of our future and Cesar Hernandez has been one of our best players in a variety of ways — running the bases, playing defense, playing with energy, he can switch hit. He’s doing a lot of things we want to see out of our young players.”
This isn’t surprising, at least to me. Hernandez has played quite well this year, hitting .302/.385/.385 with one homer and 12 steals in 71 games heading into Tuesday evening’s tilt at Dodger Stadium.
Utley, on the other hand, has scuffled, poking his way to a .179/.257/.275 line with four home runs and three stolen bases. Utley got off to a strong start last year, but faded once the the calendar flipped to June, hitting .244/.317/.350 from June 1 until the end of the year.
Utley has an option for the 2016 season that will automatically vest at $15 million if he receives 500 plate appearances in 2015. He’s just about halfway there (249), but it’ll be tough for him to get the remaining 251 plate appearances if Hernandez stays healthy and productive in the Phillies lineup.
