Ryne Sandberg tried resting Chase Utley for a couple of days. He tried him in the No. 2 spot in the batting order one game.
On Friday night, Sandberg dropped Utley from his customary No. 3 spot in the batting order to No. 6.
It’s a dramatic change. Utley hadn’t batted lower than fifth in the Phillies’ lineup since June 30, 2005. He hadn’t batted lower than fourth since April 21, 2006.
So, as the Maikel Franco era arrived Friday night (see story), another one may have ended, though Sandberg would not say how long Utley would stay down in the order.
“We’ll take it a game at a time and see what happens,” Sandberg said. “It doesn’t have to be a negative. If he can get going there and get some hits, it’s an RBI spot.”
Utley has been mired in a season-long slump. He entered Friday night ranked last in the majors out of 181 qualifying hitters in batting average (.118), slugging percentage (.209) and on-base percentage (.194).
With Utley moved down, Grady Sizemore hit third against Arizona right-hander Chase Anderson. Ryan Howard hit fourth and Franco was fifth, one spot in front of Utley.
“For Chase, just a little change of scenery, maybe change his mindset a little bit, change his luck, change the surroundings, who’s in front of him, who’s behind him. Just a change,” Sandberg said. “I think he’s tried just about everything else and I’ve tried a few things with him.”
Sandberg spoke to Utley earlier in the day.
“We had a good talk,” Sandberg said. “I’ve experienced this in my career. I was asked to lead off just for the mindset of getting on base and having a short stroke and changing the responsibility in the lineup. Hopefully that goes a long way with Chase.”
Utley was upbeat as he went through pregame workouts, though he passed on a reporter’s request for comment.