Chase Utley Injury: If Surgery Is Required, NL East Belongs to Atlanta

On December 15th, 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Cliff Lee and in the minds of baseball enthusiasts all around the world, Lee’s signature was the kiss of death for the division rival Atlanta Braves.

However, a lot has changed since December 15th—most importantly, Chase Utley‘s knee.

Before Braves fans gallop triumphantly into a busy street, toss confetti into the air and order their “Atlanta Braves: NL East Champions” t-shirt on eBay, they must wait and hear whether or not the heart and soul of Philadelphia will require surgery.

The bad news? Nobody knows the answer to that question.

Nobody.

Let’s pretend for a second that Utley will require surgery and misses, say, 10 weeks. How would that affect the National League East?

Utley missed significant time last year—he finished with only 115 games—and the Phillies obviously suffered from not having their No. 3 hitter. However, Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard were able to carry the lost weight in the lineup and Philly was able to score just enough runs to win the division.

Now Jayson is sipping lattes in D.C, playing for a last place team and making bank, while big man Howard sits at home, wondering how he is going to produce all the runs in 2011.

Sure, the Phillies have some firepower left in the arsenal with Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino (no, not Jimmy Rollins) but if you take a closer look, that isn’t really firepower—more like a few old BB Guns and one big bazooka that jams at the wrong time.

Polanco is pushing 36 and posted stats well below his career average in just about every offensive category. Sure, he’s a class act and a sure thing in the field, but Polanco is famous for his injury plagued seasons and can not be relied heavily on.

Ruiz, arguably the MVP of the Phillies in 2010, had a career year last year. However, the catcher has never played more than 121 games, so it remains to be seen what Ruiz can do with the bat while being behind the plate for a full season.

Ibanez is almost 39 years old and is obviously on a decline in his career. The vet will provide a decent bat at times, but his age has to catch up with him some time.

Victorino is really, really fast and a really, really, great defender. Offensively, there isn’t much to say. In 2010, the Flyin’ Hawaiian’s BA, OBP, OPS, SLG and hits all decreased dramatically while his strikeout totals increased.

Victorino is an average hitter at best.

Ryan Howard is a paradox. Howard goes from hitting 45 home runs and driving in 141 in 2009, to posting Corey Hart numbers in 2010—31 homers and 108 RBIs. Obviously, Howard is still one of the best hitters in the game, but Phillies fans have to be at least a little bit worried about the “slugger’s” decline.

Maybe 2010 was just an off year or maybe it was a preview of what the rest of Howard’s career will look like—only time will tell. No matter what the case, Howard can not score all the runs for this team.

Fun fact: Every player I just mentioned will be above the age of 31 by season’s end.

If Utley does miss significant time this season, his replacement will be Wilson Valdez. 

I imagine everyone in Philly cringing when they read that sentence, so I’ll say it again: If Utley does miss significant time this season, his replacement will be Wilson Valdez. 

Let’s just say that Valdez, a career .240 hitter, is not the right-handed force the Phillies need in their lineup and unless Amaro Jr. goes out and signs David Eckstein or trades for Michael Young, the absence of Utley will greatly diminish all the high hopes that began on December 15th, 2010.

The Atlanta Braves’ offense was already better than Philly’s before Utley and “phenom,” Domonic Brown got banged up. Atlanta’s offense is young, powerful and deep and no matter what happens to Chase, they will score the most runs in the division, but a scalpel in Utley’s flesh will be the icing on the cake for the Braves.

No matter how many aces there are on a pitching staff, offense is equally—if not more—important than the depth of the rotation and a Phillies offense without Utley just doesn’t cut it.

Pun intended.

Don’t get me wrong: Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt will win a good amount of games for Philly in 2010, but as I look into this magical crystal ball of mine, I see a lot of no decisions in their futures.

The future of the NL East—and probably all of baseball—relies on those lucky doctors giving Utley their “second opinion.”

Bad news Philly fans: It’s not always sunny in Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia Phillies Vs. Atlanta Braves: Who Is the Team To Beat?

Since May 31st, the Atlanta Braves have been all alone in first place atop the NL East.

The Braves have seen their lead rise to as much as seven games this season, but now they find themselves only one game ahead of Philadelphia with just two weeks left to play in the regular season.

With that said, who is really the team to beat in the National League East?

Is it Bobby Cox’s Braves in the legendary manager’s final season or the reigning champions of the National League?

We asked Phillies Featured Columnist Vincent Heck and Braves Featured Columnist Evan Walker to make their cases for their respective team.

 

Vincent Heck: 

I’m a man of faith and I know that, anytime you lack faith or doubt something great and powerful, you are sorely mistaken. The Philadelphia Phillies are powerful, on the road to great. Even if greatness does fail, it still doesn’t justify your reasoning as to why you doubted most of the time.

If you doubted the New England Patriots would win the Super Bowl in their infamous 18-1 season, you were unjustified in your doubts—period.

A great team overcomes adversity, does the unexpected, even beating the teams they are not supposed to beat—that’s greatness.

The Phillies are special in that they got their stardom as a humble, underdog, wild card team. They know how to win against hearsay—they’ve done it before.

They have since, proved, that they have risen to “powerhouse” status, considered by most to be on the brink of greatness.

The Phils’ mission hasn’t changed at all: Win another World Series.

The road, however, has definitely changed. This year, the charming Atlanta Braves stand in the path of a team who has always been determined to win and have always succeeded to a degree.

We all know the Braves can’t meet the Phillies in the World Series, so, something’s gotta give.

We know the firepower that the Phillies contain, there’s no need for me to run down statistics. You know Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz.

Those men speak for themselves.

Those aren’t the men, on Monday the 20th through Wednesday the 22nd, that the Braves should be concerned with. It’s these men:

Monday: Cole Hamels
Tuesday: Roy Halladay
Wednesday: Roy Oswalt

The Atlanta Braves, a superb team, a relentless team, a talented team, have to contend with an offense known to put up nine run comebacks a couple times each season. And bat against three bona fide aces.

Now, as I said before, I am a man of faith, but men of faith don’t choose who they put their faith in frivolously. No—if you’re going to put faith in something, make sure it’s proven and tested.

That my friends is the Philadelphia Phillies, who have the same core from 2008 and 2009, with upgrades.

I like the Braves, but the truth is, their best chance in beating Philadelphia is as a wild card. Then, possibly, they may catch the Phillies “smelling themselves” too much.

But if the Braves win the division, there is no doubt in my mind the Phillies will take it to them in the NLCS.

Because a great team overcomes adversity, does the unexpected, and beats the teams they are not supposed to beat—the Phils are “not,” necessarily supposed to beat the New York Yankees—I’m not quite sure I’m ready to throw the Braves in that discussion yet.

 

Evan Walker:

The Philadelphia Phillies are a good team.

Last year, they were great. The year before, they were great, but I am not convinced that the Phillies are the same team from 2008 and 2009. They’ll need to be that team and more to avoid the tomahawk in 2010.

As we all know, this year will be the last year of the Bobby Cox dynasty and if their anchor Chipper Jones departs, it will be the end of the “Team of the 90s.”

Welcome to the team of the 2010s.

Only one word can describe the most walk-off wins in baseball, the transformation of a talented rookie into a keeper of the flame that ignited baseball’s postseason for 15 seasons, and incredible pitching in a year certain to be remembered for incredible pitching

Magical.

The Braves need no superstars. They have no Howards and they have no Utleys.

Instead of a team full of Subway commercials stars, the Braves have a team of 40 different baseball players, any of whom can don the hero’s cape on any given night.

The big three pitchers in Philly are dangerous, but three pitchers do not make a pitching staff.

You need at least four pitchers to be successful in the playoffs.

Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick both have ERA around five, so although Hamels, Halladay, and Oswalt are almost guaranteed great performances, Kendrick (4.72 ERA) and Blanton (5.25 ERA) make the rotation questionable with a 3.70 combined ERA.

Cy Young candidate, Tim Hudson anchors the Braves rotation along with Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurjens, Derek Lowe, and Mike Minor. All of them combined have a 3.53 ERA and none of them have an ERA above 4.50.

The Braves are statistically the better team in just about every category, but the reason that they have been in front of Philadelphia for the majority of this season is not about statistics.

This season is about giving a legendary manager a deserving high note to end his Hall of Fame career.

This season is about the stewardship of a baseball legacy and the beginning of a new baseball dynasty.

No matter who wins the division or who wins the wild card, the Braves and Phillies will meet in the postseason and it won’t be pretty.  But it will be great baseball.

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