Chase Utley Still Feels Pain

Chase Utley was able to field some grounders during pregame Monday but admitted that he still felt some pain when doing so according to CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury.

Utley took batting practice with the team in Arizona which was pain-free and said his legs felt stronger.  According to Salisbury, Utley "is upbeat about his progress." However, there is still no timetable for his return, but things finally seem to be moving in the right direction.

It's not clear when Utley might be able to begin a rehab assignment.

The Phillies offense been a major issue so far this season, through 16 games they rank 15th out of 16 National League teams in average and 22 out of 30 in the majors.  Their seven home runs are tied for second lowest in the majors and their 43 runs are the second lowest run total the majors.

Will getting Utley back help fix all the problems with the Phillies struggling offense?

Hardly.

Consider Hunter Pence leads the team with just seven RBI, Shane Victorino and Pence and their two home runs lead the way.  Sure adding Utley should give the Phillies a lift, but who really knows how much he has left in the tank.

If the Phillies line-up came to Citizens Bank Park as an opposing team, we would all be saying who are these guys, so should we really be surprised that they are struggling so much right now?

Not really.

The real question is, will getting Utley and Howard back be enough?  Or will they be to far out by the time they get back for it to even matter.

Time will tell, to bad there is no timetable on either player.