2011 MLB Preview: Chase Utley Is One of 9 Key Players Heading into New Season

Starting today, I will detail nine huge impact players for the new MLB season.

These players each face hurdles: from proving they are capable of staying healthy for another season (Josh Hamilton) to showing us that they can get healthy for the new year (Justin Morneau).

From showing last year was a fluke (Carlos Pena and Chase Utley) to showing us last year was no fluke at all (Jose Bautista).

From showing us they can go from the AL to the NL (Shaun Marcum) and from the senior circuit to the junior (Danny Haren).

Finally, showing us they can turn the page, enter the upper tiers of stardom and remain there (Phil Hughes and Carlos Gonzalez).

9. Chase Utley

Obviously Utley is not as key to the Phils’ success as other teams’ best hitters are to their squads (Albert Pujols, Buster Posey, Troy Tulowitzki, etc.), but it is important for him to bounce back from his mediocre (for him) 2k10 and his brutal postseason.

Utley missed about 50 regular season games last year and upon his return never quite got back in the swing of things. He had the worst HR/AB ratio of his career (16 HR/511 AB), his lowest BA since his rookie year (.275) and his worst slugging percentage (.445). For a normal second baseman, these are all fine and good, but Chase Utley is the best 2B in the NL, and those numbers are not up to his lofty standards.

It gets worse. His NLCS vs. SF was littered with miserable defense in more than one game, a .182 BA and one RBI in 27 ABs. It is reasonable to say that if Utley had shown up to play, the Phils would have advanced to the Series.

Of course, there is plenty of blame to go around. If Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino or Ryan Howard showed up, that would have put them in the Series as well. Nevertheless, Utley needs to bounce back and play a 150-game season to show us he is healthy.

The Phils should coast to the NL East crown—it’s hard to argue with those four aces—but the offense took a hit by losing the only legit righty they had (Jayson Werth) outside of Carlos Ruiz.

Utley has a pretty clear propensity for getting hit by pitches (he has led the league every full season he has played since 2007). His stance and proximity to the plate are going to lead to him getting beaned another two dozen times this season, but perhaps he will adjust after the wrist injury last year off a HBP.

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