Bob Ford: Phillies second baseman Chase Utley sounds confident he can come back

Well, here it is, with July crowding June, and Utley still hasn't played an inning of major-league baseball this season. If all goes well Tuesday night in Allentown, where Utley will play one more rehabilitation game with the triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he is scheduled to get on the field for the Phillies the following night against the Pirates.

Utley took part in pregame fielding and batting practice with the Phils on Monday night, and afterward he sat still for the predictable questions about his impending return and dispensed with answers that were just as predictable.

And sounded a lot like the same things he said in February.

"It's probably been a few years since I've had this much strength in my legs," Utley said. "But again, I think this is a work in progress. I think I can get them stronger. This is just the initial starting point, and I can build on it. Obviously, I'm optimistic, but I think I need to be at this point."

There wasn't much to read from words that really can be trusted, not because Utley doesn't believe them at the moment, and not because his optimism is as chronic as the pain that has bedeviled him for several seasons. The fact is that neither Utley, nor his physical trainer, nor the exercise program, nor the careful scheduling planned by Charlie Manuel will decide whether Utley will stay on the field for the rest of the season. The knees will decide, and they have been traitors before.

"When we put him out there, we want to make absolutely sure that he is ready to play in the big leagues, and he's not going to have a setback and stuff like that," Manuel said. "We want to make sure that he's absolutely ready."

Unfortunately, there's no way to be sure. That's partly because the pain is neither predictable nor preventable and partly because nobody, including those in the Phillies organization, is ever really sure whether Utley is being entirely forthcoming about his condition.

Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20120626_Utley_sounds_confident_he_can_come_back.html

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