Utley to have hip surgery, will likely miss start of 09 season

So, I guess this proves Chase Utley really was injured. Throughout the 2008 season, fans and writers speculated that Utley was dealing with a hip injury that slowed him down and made him less of a player. His early MVP charge slowed way down as the season wore on and most felt it was due to his bad hip.

Today, we learned that he indeed was having hip problems because the Phillies announced he will be undergoing hip surgery in the coming days. The surgery will put him out for 4 to 6 months, meaning he will will miss at least the first couple of games of the season and could be out up to two months.

Losing Utley for a short period of time won't be a big problem since Eric Bruntlett can easily fill in. If Utley ends up missing 2 months, the Phils should look to acquire another option to play second, possibly someone like Tadahito Iguchi.

Credit needs to be given to Chase Utley for playing through this injury and helping the team win the World Series. We all knew that the Utley we were watching wasn't the one we were used to but he was still an effective player at less than 100%.

The Phillies also announced that Pedro Feliz will undergo back surgery but he is expected to be ready at the start of the season.