Kuzul

The Philadelphia Phillies are just over two weeks into the 2011 baseball season, and their super star second baseman has yet to take the infield.  Unfortunately, at this point there is no guarantee that Utley will take the field this season.

So far the Phillies have done fine without Utley, going 9-4 without him and sitting atop the NL East division. The pitching staff has, at times, looked as though they might be able to carry this team without anyone at all playing second base.

But let’s talk big picture for a moment: What if Chase never returns?  Or, assuming he does return, what if he is never the same hitter that he was before?  If Chase Utley pulled a Sandy Koufax right now, where would he rank amongst the Phillies’ all time second basemen?

Let’s have a look at the top 10 second basemen in Philadelphia Phillies’ history, and find out. 

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Bill Simmons calls it the Ewing Theory.  Other sports fans have associated the phenomenon with Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez, Tiki Barber and Drew Bledsoe. But in Philadelphia, there is only one player who should come to mind:

Bobby Abreu.

As I will tell anyone who will listen, I moved to Philadelphia the night the Phillies traded Abreu. Being a “stat-head,” I was a huge Abreu fan, and his being traded was, to me, just more evidence of the presence of dolts in major league front offices.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead and trade your best player,” I thought, sarcastically. I was sure I had moved to Philadelphia just in time for the beginning of a low point in Philadelphia Phillies history.

Of course, we all know what happened next.  Immediately after Bobby left town, the Phillies made an unexpected late-season run at the wild card, falling just short.  The following season the Phillies won the NL East, and the year after that the World Series.  

A baby dynasty was born, and we may be in the middle of a full-fledged dynasty that can trace its roots all the way back to that night I sweated my you-know-what off unloading my double-parked U-Haul in front of my first apartment north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

“But Asher, why are you bringing this up now?  And what does any of this have to do with Chase Utley?”

Good question.

The underpinning of Simmons’ Ewing Theory is that, every now and then, a team loses its star player, and for whatever reason the team plays better without their star than it did with the star. It stems from the run that the New York Knicks went on in the 1999 NBA post-season after Ewing tore his Achilles tendon in the first round of the playoffs.

Without their star and future Hall of Famer, the Knicks ran all the way to the NBA Finals.

Other prominent examples include the Tennessee Volunteers winning the national championship the year after Peyton Manning’s epic four-year career came to an end, the Seattle Mariners winning 116 regular season games the season after completing the dismantling of the Griffey-Johnson-ARod triumvirate and the 1999 St. Louis Rams dominating the NFL after losing starting quarterback Trent Green in the pre-season.

“But Asher, what are you trying to say?”

Right.

Has anyone around here noticed how well the Philadelphia Phillies seem to play when Chase Utley is not in the lineup the last couple of years?

As of Sunday afternoon’s victory over the Florida Marlins, the Phillies are now 10-4 and are tied for the third-best record in all of baseball behind the Cleveland Indians and Colorado Rockies, two teams on amazing hot streaks.

Last season, Utley missed 47 games due to various injuries, chiefly a thumb he injured sliding head-first into second base. The Phillies went 97-65 overall on the season, for a .599 winning percentage.

With Utley in the lineup, they were 68-47, for a .591 winning percentage.  

Without Utley, the Phillies went 29-18, for a .617 winning percentage.

If these numbers do not shock you, they should.  Because they are shocking.  Utley is roundly considered one of the best players in baseball, and generally speaking the best players in baseball—the Albert Pujolses, the Robinson Canos, the Joey Vottos, the Troy Tulowitskis—should be indispensable parts of their teams.

In a 21st Century sports world in which we are constantly pondering the meaning and measure of overall value and value to the team, how do we quantify the value of a player whose team can not only manage just fine without him, but whose team might actually play better in his absence?

There are a million possible explanations for an up-tick in a team’s performance in the absence of their star player, whether it be the other players taking it upon themselves to step up, to a coach suddenly having to coach better in the absence of his star player, to other personnel changes on the team that would have led inevitably to better performance anyway.

In this specific scenario, Utley’s absence the last couple of seasons seems to have caused a re-ordering of the lineup, which has had positive impacts upon the other hitters. In 2010, Raul Ibanez positively caught fire subbing for Utley in the three-hole ahead of Ryan Howard, and in 2011, the 1-2-3 combination of Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco and Jimmy Rollins has functioned well at the top of the order.

And there can be no doubt that, whatever his limitations at the plate, Wilson Valdez’s glove had been a big part of the Phillies’ ability to lose Utley and keeping winning.

For my part, sitting here on a Sunday afternoon having watched the Philadelphia Phillies get out to a 10-4 start on less than the dominant pitching we were all expecting and an offense that got off to a hot start but already seems to be showing signs of being capable of the same streakiness (and slumpiness) as last year’s team, I personally would prefer to have Utley back.

This early in the season, we need all hands on deck, including the hands of one of this generation’s finest second sackers.

Nevertheless, the lessons of the Ewing Theory and of Bobby Abreu loom large in my imagination as I ponder whether this Phillies team may discover that, going forward, the continuation of the Gillick-Amaro Dynasty depends upon not the ability to hold on to Chase Utley, but rather upon the ability to get value in return for him while they still can.

As Phillies fans have learned before, and as the sports world continues to make clear, sometimes getting rid of your best player can be the catalyst for greater success.

And frankly, the longer the Phillies All-Star second baseman stays out and the Phillies keep winning, the more convinced I will be that this has become the case with Chase Utley. 

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For a team that has mashed the cover off of the baseball in recent memory, you would think at first glance that the Philadelphia Phillies‘ organization hasn’t been built around solid defensive players, but around offensive juggernauts.

Not so fast. That isn’t even close to being the case.

While the Phillies have had their good times, and very, very bad times in their history, they have always held one philosophy as golden—defense rules the day. Though that philosophy may not have been as clear as the “pitching and defense wins championships” motto that current general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. uses, the citizens of Philadelphia have always respected a team that plays a gritty, hard style of baseball, and those players just so happened to be of an elite defensive caliber.

Though I’ve done a few slide shows like this before, most notably the Greatest Phillies’ in Team History, this one is going to be a bit different. I’ve taken a look at what made a player great during his tenure with the Phils’, but never held the one thing that turns a great player into a fan favorite in Philadelphia—defense—in such a high regard.

With that in mind, we have to turn on the blinders a bit here. Sometimes, when a great player is mentioned, people tend to believe that his defense was stellar, but that isn’t always the truth. I’ll be looking at a number of criteria, including consistent, above average defensive play, to determine who comes out on time.

So here we go! Here are the best defensive players in Phillies’ history, position by position.

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Simply amazing. The MLB season is only about two weeks old, and some teams already have big holes to fill. The Philadelphia Phillies are doing quite well and are atop the National League Eastern Division with a 7-2 record, but still are without a top offensive presence in second baseman Chase Utley (pictured at left).

Similarly, the St. Louis Cardinals stumbled out of the starting gate and now own a 3-6 record. Most shocking, however, is the situation of the Tampa Bay Rays. After winning the American League Eastern Division crown in 2010, the team has gone just 2-8 and holds the major leagues’ worst team batting average at .163.

Sure enough, people are already talking about trades that these struggling squads could make to instantly improve the team and fill any holes. Naturally, it is only April 12 and to even think about making trades this early in the season is ridiculous. Yet, one month from now, it might not be a bad idea.

Here are trades that the Phillies and some other teams should consider if their key players don’t return soon or if their records do not improve.

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Like many of you, I’m sure, I am still high as a kite from the Phils’ Opening Day victory over the Astros. 

Also like many of you, I’ve been a huge proponent of this team learning to hit in succession (what many refer to as “small ball”) rather than to wait for the Big Three to hit home runs. 

Last year, the team received enormous boosts from a few players who were not stars, or for that matter, even regulars.

Wilson Valdez comes to mind, but there were others, including Schneider, Sweeney, Gload and Castro. 

This year, so much has been made about Chase Utley missing…well, we don’t yet know how much of the season he’ll miss, or if he will even play at all.

Chase Utley is my favorite player since Mike Schmidt. In my opinion, he’s the best and most complete player on the team.  He embodies the ideal way that the game should be played.

Having opined thusly, I will say that Chase is still one player.  Can he be replaced by Wilson Valdez?  Let’s not get crazy.

However, Wilson Valdez is a decent player that seems to come up big in the pinch. So did quite a few of the Phillies’ “little guys” in today’s win. 

I suppose that the only way to have achieved a more perfect scenario would have been for Roy Halladay to get the win.  I’m not worried about that, though, as he will have more than his share by season’s end. 

What these guys did in the ninth inning was a true team effort. As a lineup, as individual hitters, they had confidence in one another.  Nobody tried to do too much. With only one exception, each player picked up the preceding player.

The point of this small article is that the team seemed to actually do better last year when they had these seemingly insurmountable injuries. 

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you all that a lineup full of Valdezes would be superior to a lineup with Utley, Rollins and Howard. 

What I will say is that, as these star players get older, they need more and more of a breather to stay in top form.  These bench players (some of whom are thrust into starting roles) are capable Major Leaguers. 

It may behoove Charlie Manuel to trust his “reserves” more and get them some serious at-bats.  It was a strategy that Jim Fregosi employed with the ’93 club, and with outstanding results.

I’m not saying to platoon players.  What I am saying is that guys who are not wiping dust from their uniforms due to idle status won’t be prepared when they do need to come in to help the ballclub.

I certainly want to see Chase Utley return as soon as possible. And though Brad Lidge is about as consistent as half of an umbrella, I’d like him back—if for no other reason than to help cure our seventh inning dilemma.

This baseball team can do great things. 

It is a team that wants to win, and a team that will do well to remember the utilization of the little guys!

As always, I seek your input, even if you think I’m off my rocker.  Thanks for reading!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2011 Philadelphia Phillies have had a rough spring so far, losing closer Brad Lidge and second baseman Chase Utley for indeterminate periods.

Luis Castillo could not even lock down the starting second-base job, which will now fall to Wilson Valdez for Friday’s season opener.

Still and all, the majority of those in the baseball pundit world view Philadelphia as favorites to reach the postseason, at which point some of their deficiencies become non-issues and their greatest strength—the starting rotation to end all starting rotations—becomes an even more critical advantage. Many still view them as the best team in the National League.

The Atlanta Braves might have something to say about that.

They enter the season in much better health, with a lineup as deep as Philadelphia’s at this point and with a far superior bullpen.

Atlanta’s farm system stands ready to provide further reinforcements throughout the year. The Phillies’ blue-chip prospects are all multiple years away from being impact players at the big-league level.

Like Philadelphia, Atlanta has a strong rotation, though its strength is more in its depth than in sheer top-tier talent. Adding Dan Uggla to the offensive core of Jason Heyward, Brian McCann and Chipper Jones was an inspired stroke for GM Frank Wren.

This team has to be the favorite over the long season to win the NL East.

Can Philadelphia win the Wild Card? Sure. They have to be the favorites, in fact. But a lot could go awry: Three of the vaunted top four in the rotation are on the wrong side of 31. Lidge has been fading for a long time, injured or otherwise. Utley may be back before Memorial Day or after Labor Day.

Organizational depth offers little immediate help, and they don’t have the payroll flexibility to fill any critical need that may arise over the balance of the season via trades for bigger names.

For argument’s sake, though, let’s say the Phils reach the second week of October.

That makes the NL playoff picture relatively clear: The Braves and Phillies, as the two best and most playoff-ready squads in the NL, will meet in the NLCS.

Now, then, let’s see about the AL. This is a bit trickier, because as ruthlessly efficient as the Red Sox and Twins look this year, neither is composed with postseason success as a top priority the way Philadelphia’s is.

Both teams play in divisions at least as tough as Philly’s. Overall, it is harder to build around starting pitchers in the hitter-friendly American League than in the NL, so both Boston and Minnesota have built instead around offense and will have the inside tracks toward their division titles.

Once they get there, though, they could run into trouble.

The Oakland Athletics, lurkers in baseball’s tall weeds, have a much better run-prevention profile than either of those teams, and the upside risk in Gio Gonzalez and Brett Anderson is huge.

Though I expect the Yankees or Rays to gobble up the Wild Card, the most interesting would-be match for Boston this side of Atlanta might well be Chicago, a team newly suited to threaten the Twins but not yet ready to beat them. 

For the sake of argument, let’s put the Twins, Red Sox, Athletics and Rays in the playoffs on the junior circuit side of the bracket. Minnesota and Tampa would be a fine series, but unless Wade Davis or Jeremy Hellickson morphs into a co-ace alongside David Price, Minnesota will win.

Oakland can give Boston trouble, but sooner or later, the Red Sox’s bullpen and offensive advantages would be too much.

To review, then, I see Boston, Minnesota, Atlanta and Philadelphia playing for the respective pennants in each league this season. Those picks are pretty bland, but realistically, why go out on a limb?

Could the Colorado Rockies—led by Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge de la Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin—unseat one of the teams on the NL side?

Of course.

Colorado is a sleeper in league with the White Sox, and if fully healthy, either team could sneak all the way to the World Series.

Still, if anyone out there is making their annual friendly entertainment-only wagers on which combatants reach their LCS, be smart and bet on the proven entities involved.

These teams are favorites for a reason.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The countdown is on to Opening Day. Expectations have never been higher in the entire 121 year history of Philadelphia professional baseball. Behind four of the top pitchers in the game in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels and a lineup that features two former MVPs and perennial and potential All-Stars.

The Phightin’s have won four straight National League East titles. They have appeared in three straight National League Championship Series, (NLCS) winning two of them, had the best record in the entire Major Leagues last year at 97-65 and won the World Series in 2008.

The most anticipated season ever is set to begin, and Philadelphia finally has the team to beat. We are now (finally) the Yankees (WITHOUT selling our souls to the devil.)

Then why has the attitude in Philadelphia gone from excited to anxiety? Whether it is the injuries to Dominick Brown or Brad Lidge or the potential ineffectiveness of the lineup, Philly Nation’s confidence has grown into a legitimate concern.

Then there is Chase Utley, one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes of all time. He has been battling patellar tendinitis, chondromalacia and bone inflammation in his right knee and he will begin the season on the DL. Many pundits believe that this is a smoke-screen and he will require surgery that may sideline him for the majority of the year.

Utley said on Monday, “Over the past few weeks I think we have made some progress for obviously the good and we’re going to stay on top of what we’ve been doing. So I’m optimistic at this point and we’ll continue to do what we’re doing and go from there.”

Utley said he has consulted with several doctors, and the opinions they have offered have varied. This is extremely good news for fans, as they want Utley to exhaust every possible option he has in the hope of their best player being able to be a part of what could be a historic season.

The best thing about all of this is that many of the doctors suggestions were in the best interest of Philadelphia and its fans.

Here is what the top doctors in America have suggested that Utley should do for his knee.

1. “Chase, I would recommend you have the leg amputated and play second base with a peg-leg, thus increasing your longevity and the likelihood of taking out middle-infielders on potential double play balls.”

2. “Chase, you should take some of Joe Blanton’s excess (you know) and insert it right into the knee cap to increase comfort.”

3. “Chase should borrow Carlos Ruiz’s knee-savers, because he can wear them in the field as well as at the plate. They will not only help him “save” his knees, but also may become a fashion trend in baseball.”

4. “Chase actually should play second base while sitting on a stool, as he has done in Spring Training.

5. “Chase, the Phillies should invest in a Tempurpedic mattress for you to lay on at second base during games started by Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt or Lee as they will continue to dominate as they always have. Leg elevation would be best as well.”  

The same doctor called back this morning and was reported as saying:

6. “Upon further review Chase, the mattress idea would work for Blanton as well. You should be as comfortable as possible watching balls sail over the fence.”

7. “Chase, the peg-leg idea is the way to go as it can double as a leg and a baseball bat.”

8. “Do whatever Jamie Moyer is doing.”

9. “Stop crying, Philadelphia loves warriors.”

10. “Retire and let Brian Dawkins play second base, as he has been tweeting daily about his desire  to return to Philly.”

There you have it folks, some of the best doctors in America when it comes to knees and their suggestions for how Utley’s injury should be handled.

Soon to come, Joe Blanton and two dozen donuts are rumored to be on the move to the Yankees for a danish to be named later.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The National League East is a division that was dominated by the Braves for years, but the Phillies are now top dogs. That is not to count the Braves out, however, as they have a wealth of young talent and a solid pitching staff.

The Marlins are another young team that continues to get better each season, and could be a contender sooner rather than later, while the Nationals seem ready to open up their wallets, as they inked Jayson Werth to a huge contract in the off season and made a run at Cliff Lee. The Mets will look to begin rebuilding, as they have a ton of money coming off the books next season, so a number of young players could get a look this season.

So here is a position-by-position preview of the NL East, as we turn our sights to opening day later this week.

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The biggest question at second base heading into the 2011 season is: What will fantasy owners get from Phillies second baseman Chase Utley?

When healthy and at his best, Utley is elite. He has posted career highs in the standard five rotisserie categories, as follows: .332-131-33-105-23.

The problem is the health, or lack thereof, of Utley’s knee, which will likely land him on the disabled list to start the season. From a fantasy perspective, the bigger worry is that improvement in his knee seems to be moving at a snail’s pace. How soon will he be back? Will the injury linger and affect his performance when he’s back on the field?

Here are our top 15 fantasy second basemen for 2011:

1. Robinson Cano, Yankees: With the exception of stolen bases, Cano puts up elite stats across the board at a relatively weak position. Cano, who set career highs in home runs (29) and runs batted in (109) in 2010, has the second-most hits in all of baseball over the past two seasons.

2. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: In addition to hitting over .300 for his career, Pedroia gives fantasy owners the potential for a 15-20 season. Despite missing half of last year, Pedroia ranks 10th in the majors in runs scored (286) from 2008 to 2010.

3. Dan Uggla, Braves: At a position where power hitters are less common, Uggla has been a model of consistency when it comes to power. In each of the past four seasons, Uggla has hit 31-33 home runs and has driven in 90-plus runs including a career-high 105 last season. But will you get his career-low .243 (2009) or career-high .287 (2010) batting average? Although he’s a career .354 hitter in his new home ballpark (Turner Field), the answer likely falls somewhere in between that range.

4. Ian Kinsler, Rangers: The biggest knock on Kinsler is playing time (123.6 games per season over past five years). If healthy, Kinsler has the potential to put up elite numbers. For example, when he played a career-high 144 games (2009), Kinsler hit 31 homers and stole 31 bases.

5. Brandon Phillips, Reds: For the first time in four seasons, Phillips failed to have a 20-20 season. In 2010, he finished with 18 home runs and 16 stolen bases. The majority of Phillips’ at-bats in 2010 came at one of the top two spots of the lineup after mostly batting cleanup in 2009. The effect? His runs batted in dropped from 98 in 2009 to a five-year low of 59 in 2010.

6. Chase Utley, Phillies: Two seasons removed from a 30-20 season, Utley will most likely begin the 2011 season on the disabled list after missing a total of 47 games last year. If he were healthy, Utley would be second on this list.

7. Rickie Weeks, Brewers: Speaking of health, Weeks played an average of 95 games per season from 2005 through 2009 before playing a career-high 160 games last year. Naturally, he set career-highs in runs scored (112), hits (175), home runs (29) and runs batted in (83) in 2010. The only way he approaches those numbers again is if he can stay healthy for two seasons in a row. Before last year, he hadn’t done that for one season in a row.

8. Martin Prado, Braves: Prado, who played mostly second base and some third base last year, is moving to left field for the Braves and soon will be eligible at three fantasy positions. In a career-high 140 games last season, Prado hit .307 and 15 home runs with 100 runs scored.

9. Gordon Beckham, White Sox: After hitting 14 homers with 63 runs batted in over 103 games in his rookie season, Beckham seemed poised for a breakout season last year. The eighth overall pick in the 2008 draft got off to an incredibly slow start in 2010, but he picked up the pace as he hit .310 after the All-Star break. Beckham, who will bat second for the White Sox this season, is a guy I’ve targeted in most of my drafts this year.

10. Ben Zobrist, Rays: Like Prado, Zobrist has multi-position eligibility as a second baseman and outfielder (and first baseman in Yahoo! leagues). After a breakout season in 2009 (.297-91-27-91-17), Zobrist really struggled down the stretch last season. After the All-Star break, Zobrist hit only .177 and hit .200 or lower per month from July to October. On a positive note, Zobrist stole a career-high 24 bases in 2010 and will likely have even more base-stealing opportunities as the team’s leadoff hitter.

11. Aaron Hill, Blue Jays: Not only did Hill have the lowest BABIP (.196) of his career, it was the lowest in all of baseball. Even with the horrible BABIP and batting average (.205), Hill still managed to hit 26 home runs in 2010.

12. Kelly Johnson, Diamondbacks: In his first season with the Diamondbacks, Johnson set career highs in runs (93), hits (166), home runs (26), runs batted in (71) and stolen bases (13) in 2010. Johnson hit .311 with 16 of his 26 home runs at Chase Field last year.

13. Howie Kendrick, Angels: The direction of his batting averages over the past four seasons isn’t what you’d like to see: .322 (2007), .306 (2008), .291 (2009) and .279 (2010). That said, he set career highs in several counting statistics: runs scored (67), runs batted in (75), stolen bases (14) and tied his career high in home runs (ten).

14. Chone Figgins, Mariners: Since 2004, Figgins has stolen 30-plus bases every season. In five of the past six seasons, he has stolen 40-plus bases. Figgins is having a good spring (.349 average and four steals in 16 games).

15. Brian Roberts, Orioles: When healthy, Roberts has provided fantasy owners with lots of runs and stolen bases and a decent batting average. Before missing 100-plus games in 2010, Roberts stole 30-plus bases for four consecutive seasons although he went from 50 (2007) to 40 (2008) to 30 (2009).

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Philadelphia Phillies cured? Say it isn’t so.

But what if that figment of our imagination came true? What if the World Series favorite Philadelphia Phillies were indeed cursed from here on out?

Looking at the way this team is shaping up for the 2011 season, I’d put my money on the Phillies being cursed… here’s why.

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