Props to David Murphy at Philly.com for making a case supporting the fact that Chase Utley is likely in the midst of a slump, and not injured.
As Murph points out in his High Cheese blog, one of the best on the web in terms of analysis, most fans — myself included — seem to always jump to the conclusion that Utley must be injured when he is not hitting well.
That may not be the case and Murph is the first to persuade me to at least consider the fact that Chase just isn’t hitting right now.
Chase Utley: injured or slumping? Either way, the All-Star second baseman is hitting just .256 through Sunday.
Murphy points out that Utley was actually hurt at the end of the 2008 season. And, he may have been roughed up last year. However, he also does a good job of providing evidence that Utley has had bad hitting streaks. For example, he says Chase hit .191 over his last 31 games last year.
The point is, Chase, like every big league player, has periods where they just do not see or hit the ball well. Even Ted Williams had slumps in his day.
Why is Utley’s average an issue right now (he’s hitting .256 after the trip to Boston)? As Murphy says, the beginning of the season magnifies slumps because it’s easier to bring averages down when you have a small sampling of at-bats.
What’s more, Phillies fans need to realize that Utley has actually shown signs of dropping effectiveness at the plate each of the last four years. He hit for a career high .332 in 2007. Since then, his average has dropped each season: .292 in 2008, .282 in 2009 and .256 through Sunday.
Don’t get us wrong. He’s still good for 30 homers and 100-plus RBI a year. But, just think how much more potent this lineup would be if he were hitting for average. As it is, they can’t pitch around Utley with Ryan Howard, Placido Polanco and Jayson Werth surrounding him in the order.
The bottom line is, although we want to like Chase so much that we can’t believe he’s capable of hitting below .270, the fact is it is possible. So, unless we find out Utley is injured, we just have to accept the fact that he is human and in the midst of not hitting like the rest of the lineup.
The good news is, he has a ton of time to turn it around. And, when he does, opposing pitchers will pay.
