CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Bright House Field complex was quiet on Wednesday morning, empty of major league ballplayers who had been given their very first day off of the spring. Over at the minor league side of the complex, players were taking batting practice and running on the lush, green carpets of grass in preparation for more workouts to come.
And yet if hope springs eternal in Clearwater, many folks with the Phillies are holding that hope tightly so that a potential injury crisis doesnt leave the team in a bind.
Without the distraction of a ballgame, all that was left was to let the mind wander
So the speculation has begun on the extent of the injury (or injuries) Chase Utley is experiencing in his knees. Does he need surgery? Will he miss significant playing time? Is his season in jeopardy or, worse, is his career on the line?
Indeed, no one is sure when Utley will return, and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. pointed out that the issue is the cartilage, or lack thereof, in Utleys knee.
Hes got a cartilage issue, and you cant grow cartilage, Amaro said.
No, you, I or Chase Utley cannot grow cartilage, but if needed, we could coax out some new cartilage with microfracture surgery, the procedure that many have speculated is the direction the All-Star second baseman is headed. Certainly it seems reasonable given Amaros assertion that the injury involves the cartilage of Utleys knee(s).
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So what is microfracture surgery? It is a procedure where a doctor creates tiny fractures in the bone near the knee with a pickaxe-like instrument. If blood rushes to the area and clots and the clot holds, the surgery is successful and an artificial cartilage of sorts is formed to protect the knee in the form of the clot and scar tissue.
Its a 30-to-90 minute procedure and one undergone by NBA stars, Anfernee Hardaway, Jason Kidd, Greg Oden, Kenyon Martin, Tracy McGrady and Amare Stoudemire. In baseball, Carlos Beltran, Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, Chad Tracy and Carlos Guillen had microfracture surgery.
According to The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, the success rate on patients 45 or younger is 80 percent, though the recovery and rehab time typically takes 11 to 12 months and is quite intense. However, most athletes come out of the process as good as new. Though Greg Oden is headed for a third knee surgery, Stoudemire was an All-Star before he had the procedure and an MVP candidate after it. According to a New York Times story, some doctors, including Dr. Richard Steadman who pioneered the microfracture procedure in the 1980s, claim that athletic careers could be extended by the surgery. Steadman told the Times that in follow-up exams with patients 11 years removed from the surgery showed no decline in function.
Of course Utley may not need microfracture surgery. His problem could just be chronic tendonitis, which means the best course of recovery is rest, and lots of it. But even if were talking about a couple of weeks, a month or even a year for Utley, Amaro and the Phillies need to find manager Charlie Manuel someone who can play second base. Given that slugger Ryan Howard is recovering from a ruptured Achilles, the Phillies could need someone to replace Utley with a track record. Certainly the Phillies have the defense and pitching part under control. Last season, with Wilson Valdez and Michael Martinez taking 122 starts as well as 122 starts split between Valdez and Juan Castro in 2010, the Phillies won 102 and 97 games, respectively. And, as everyone remembers, the Phillies had hitting issues during those epic-winning seasons, too.
But this time its different.
Howard and Utley together hit 91 home runs over the past two seasons. Thats nearly 30 percent of all the home runs hit by all of the Phillies hitters over the last two years, including the postseason. This season there is no more Valdez and Martinez broke a bone in his foot on Tuesday afternoon and should miss a few weeks. Meanwhile, prospect Freddy Galvis, with all of 33 games played above Double-A, might be able to do the job in the field as a second baseman, but can he hit?
If Galvis can hold down second basea position he has never played professionallywhat about Howards production? Can the pitching make up for the lack of offense like they have the past couple of seasons?
Oh yes, there is quite a bit to think about without a ballgame to serve as distraction.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com