Utley and Howard Near Return

Second baseman Chase Utley is set to return for the Phillies after competing in a rehab outing with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Tuesday night. In the club's 10-2 win over Rochester, the five-time All-Star slapped a single and slammed a home run while striking out twice in five at bats.

Utley has been out of action until recently with chondromalacia in his left knee.

Prior to playing for Lehigh Valley, Utley posted a .159 batting average with one homer and five RBI in nine games with Class A Advanced Clearwater.

Ultey told media members on Tuesday that he thought his overall progress was not reflected in the statistical totals he tallied in his minor league rehab outings.

"I actually swung the bat a little bit better than the numbers showed down in Clearwater," Utley said.

The Phillies must make a move to add Utley to the active 25-man roster on Wednesday. The most likely candidate to make room would be utility man Michael Martinez, who is batting .133 in 16 games for the Phils this season.

Also, the Phillies announced Tuesday that injured first baseman Ryan Howard could begin a rehab assignment with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws on Thursday evening. Howard has been sidelined this entire season, as he recovers from left Achiles tendon surgery.

Howard, who has been rehabbing the ailment at the Phillies' spring training home in Clearwater, FL, is slated to return to Philadelphia on Wednesday for "functional testing" on his Achilles area. If those tests come back with positive results, the former National League Most Valuable Player will begin a rehab assignment with the BlueClaws on Thursday night.

During his rise through the Phils' developmental system, Howard played with Lakewood in 2002. He later rehabbed injuries at Lakewood's FirstEnergy Park in 2007 and in 2010, with the team retiring his jersey number, 29, during his most recent appearance in the shore town.

For BlueClaws ticket information, call 732-901-7000 or visit BlueClaws.com.

___________________________________________

Utley image- Joe Wombough

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE

Comments

Anonymous said…

CHUTLEY!!

June 27, 2012 at 1:25 PM

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog