The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Arizona Diamondback on Monday, however, lost in the shuffle of Philly's fourth straight loss was the return of second basemen Chase Utley to the diamond. Utley, who hasn't played yet this season because of a knee injury, wasn't in the lineup but he did take battling practice and fielded ground balls before Monday's contest.
"I'm not happy that I'm not playing," Utley, 33, said. "But I'm looking at it from a positive, like I always have. I've definitely gained strength over the past three weeks."
According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Utley has been rehabbing in Phoenix at Fischer Sports Therapy and has gone from having a sting of pain every time he took the field in Spring Training to having no pain, just soreness, on Monday.
Utley did not reveal a timetable for his return, but Gelb hints that it maybe around the same amount of time as he missed in 2011 (46 games).
"I'd like to be back right now," Utley said. "I have to listen to my body, and right now it's telling me to continue to move forward with the things I'm doing. I don't want to put a certain date on it because I don't want to force something that's not ready to happen. When my knee is ready to go, I'll be out there."