Comments on: Phillies to give Chase Utley limited playing time this spring

By: mercyflush

mercyflush — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:20:06 +0000

i agree with paperlions. Utley is by far the most valuable position player on this team, and has been for the last 5 years. The stats back that up – he’s second in the NL in WAR (behind only Pujols) for the last 5 years.

And I like that they are playing it safe with him in the spring.

That’s not to say Howard isnt important. Forget his contract (which I agree is terrible but what can you do?). He is their best power hitter and is important to the lineup.

By: mercyflush

mercyflush — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:16:02 +0000

I like how you put vaunted in quotes, as if the starting pitching on this team is not really that.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:38:33 +0000

Uh huh.

By: sasquash20

sasquash20 — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:49:55 +0000

Your retarded. Utley is invisible for a month or 2 the last 4 seasons. Howard is and was the most important bat for this Phillies squad. I watched or listened to almost every game the last 7 years and you have no clue what your talking about.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:29:30 +0000

People rip the Howard contract because he’s been the 3rd best player on the Phillies infield most of his career, but is paid by far the most (and far too much). There hasn’t been a single year in which Howard has been as valuable as Utley…one guy provides value in every aspect of the game…the only did one thing very well for a few years.

By: careyb44

careyb44 — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:23:49 +0000

First Howard, now Utley. If the “vaunted” starting pitching fails to carry this team , they could
end up in the NL east cellar.

By: mdpickles

mdpickles — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:15:17 +0000

It’s popular to bash Howard because of his production/contract. However, Utley still remains the biggest concern going into the season. It is time to bat him leadoff, especially now more than ever with Howard out of the lineup for a couple of months. He never swings at first pitch strikes (ala JRoll), works counts, fouls pitches, smart baserunner. It’s a lot harder to pitch around a leadoff baserunner than pitching around a 2 out walk.