Phillies Place Chase Utley on the 15-Day DL, Recall Darin Ruf From Triple-A

With 249 plate appearances and talk about monitoring Chase Utley's playing time, the Phillies have placed Utley on the 15-day DL with a right ankle inflammation and recalled Darin Ruf from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Ruf was sent down when the Phillies called up Dom Brown, he was hitting .308 in seven games for the Ironpigs.

Utley sat out of tonight's game against the Yankees, it was the third time he was out of the lineup in the last five games. Utley, 36, is batting just .179 with a .532 OPS this season.

(Listen to MLB.com Phillies inisder Todd Zolecki discuss how the Phillies are handling Chase Utley)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgiFRrYnwng

With the way Utley has struggled this season, a big topic of conversation recently has been the pending $15 million vesting option for 2016 if he reaches 500 plate appearances. Recently Phillies manager Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said Utley's vesting option for 2016 will not factor into his decision-making with the team's lineup.

He's currently at 249 plate appearances with 89 games remaining.

Phillies president Pat Gillick said Sunday that he hasn't given Sandberg any sort of directive on how to handle Utley's playing time.

"That’s up to the manager," Gillick said about Utley’s playing time. "We don't have anything to say about that. [GM Ruben Amaro Jr.] to my knowledge and myself, we've never dictated to any of the managers their lineup."

The move opens up playing time for Cesar Hernandez who has been hot lately, going 6-for-14 with five runs scored and five RBIs in the last three games.