Chase On The Mend

Philadelphia Phillies fans got some good news today as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that second baseman Chase Utley should have the split removed from his injured thumb within the next two or three days. Unfortunately for the fans thou he won’t be able to replace the now injured Ryan Howard in the lineup anytime soon. Once the splint is removed Chase will only be allowed to work on strengthening exercises.

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Utley far away

Amaro said the splint on Chase Utley’s sprained right thumb could be removed in the next two or three days but the second baseman isn’t closer to a return to the lineup.

Without the splint, Utley can begin doing exercises to strengthen the thumb. Still, Amaro estimated that the original timetable of eight weeks of recovery from surgery, which was July 1, remains the outlook.

“We’ll see how he feels once he gets out of the splint,” Amaro said.

— Philadelphia Inquirer

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While it’s likely that Utley won’t return to the lineup quicker then expected there is a positive in all this. He’s on schedule! At this point that means there were no setbacks and the thumb is healing as the team had hoped it would.

Chase has been known as a hard worker throughout his career and with the Phillies in a dogfight with the Atlanta Braves he may feel pressed to hurry back. With the splint on there wasn’t much rushing he could do but with it off that’s something he can do.

So the one worry I’d say for fans is the risk that Utley over does his workouts, doing so could definitely risk further injury or a brief setback. Even so, I think Chase is too smart to let that happen, if the team stays within striking distance then I’m sure Utley wouldn’t feel the pressure to rush.

So if he follows doctors orders, I’m sure you’ll see him in the lineup on September 1st against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Personally, I’d think they’d wait till September 3rd thou when the team comes back to the big city.

For out of market Phillies fans you can catch those games on MLB.TV.