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There’s been a buzz recently about the possibility that Chase Utley is hurt. My question is, why?
Let me begin by saying how much I love the way Utley plays the game. Utley plays hard, he hustles, and is focused, smart, and gives max effort. In short, he plays baseball the way it was meant to be played. No wonder he is #1 in all-star voting.
HOWEVER, why is it that when Chase is struggling, everyone automatically assumes it’s because he’s hurt? Obviously we know from the hip injury that Utley will play hurt and won't say a word about it. But Howard doesn’t get a pass. Werth doesn’t get a pass. Victorino doesn’t get a pass. So why Utley?
There is a good chance that Utley is hurt and playing through pain we couldn’t imagine. But what if he isn’t? What if he’s just playing badly or has his mind elsewhere (like his hot wife)?
The thing is, I think it is about time that we put the blame on Chase Utley. Obviously this is not our good lineup with Rollins and Polanco out, but that means your superstars need to shoulder the burden. And the guy we should look to is the one with the short, quick, stroke. With a swing like Utley’s, he should be the guy you look to in order to get something started. We didn’t need a homerun last week as much as we just needed SOMETHING, ANYTHING to spark some offense.
The way he plays, you would think Utley has too much pride to allow all of the shutouts and such a historic team slump. But he has been nonexistent. How can a guy like that be lifeless?
What it shows is that Utley is clearly not a leader on this team. A true leader would do something to show that he is upset and shows that this streak is unacceptable. But he just swings the bat and takes a right turn back to the dugout. No helmets flying, no aggressive baserunning, no nothing.
Frankly, it is embarrassing that everyone talks so much about Jimmy Rollins and how much of a sparkplug he is. Everyone talked about how Utley would be the next to win MVP. How can an MVP just sit back and wait for Jimmy to come back?
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