Utley's Injury - A Silver Lining?

The confirmation that Chase Utley was indeed playing with a hip injury which will require surgery raises a couple of interesting questions.

When Utley's offensive production fell off dramatically after the All-Star break, there were rumors circulating of an injury as there seemed to be no other possible explanation, particularly with the drop in Utley's power numbers. The taciturn second baseman, of course, would offer no corroboration and to his credit, did not want to use injury as an excuse. However, for those of us watching virtually every game, it was remarkable that there were no visible signs of physical limitations. His running was unimpaired. His compact swing, the shortest stroke in baseball, looked unchanged. He still pulled almost every ball. But his strike outs were up and his power was way down.

It is impossible to gauge the effect of an injury. Certainly even a minor or nagging injury could be enough to disrupt a hitter looking at 90 mph fastballs. It could be something so subtle that even Utley himself couldn't pinpoint. However, the speculation here, and speculation is all it is, is that Utley's second half slump was due to something else - his torrid first half. Chase Utley is most effective as a 25-30 hr, .315-320 hitter, not as a 40-45 hr, .275 hitter. One can't help but think that all the long balls in April, May and June subconsciously altered Utley's swing leading up to his forgettable appearance in the home run hitting contest. Then if you layer on top of this a nagging hip injury, you have the makings of a serious hitting funk.

Utley is going to have to unlearn some bad habits in the next few months to restore his hitting to where it should be. Recovering from surgery, assuming no complications of course, could aid in this as he will, in a sense, be starting from scratch. This will be an intriguing subplot come next season.