Updated: 11:55 p.m.
When Ryan Howard was in the cleanup spot earlier this season killing rallies, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg alleviated the situation by moving him down in the order to seventh.
Howard has since batted fifth, sixth and seventh, hitting his first home run of the season Tuesday night out of the six-hole.
But as Chase Utley approaches the worst hitless streak of his career, he remains third in the Phillies’ lineup.
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“He continues to hit the ball hard,” Sandberg said prior to Wednesday’s 6-1 Phillies loss. “With certain situations he’s been a good guy at the plate. With men in scoring position, he’s been doing the job. Still giving quality at-bats there.”
Utley is 2 for 17 (.118) with runners in scoring position this season, though he does have seven RBIs in those situations. He’s driven in three men from third with sacrifice flies, which obviously won’t boost one’s batting average.
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On Wednesday, Utley stranded the go-ahead run on third base with two outs in the sixth inning, striking out against Marlins right-hander Jarred Cosart.
“He has been a positive in producing with men on third base, he’s had a real good knack for that, that’s how he’s gotten his RBIs,” Sandberg said. “He’s been a good guy in those situations, with quality at-bats, really bearing down and getting the guy in. Some are sac flies, some are ground balls with the infield back.”
The way Sandberg sees it, Utley is still the best option in the three-hole for the Phillies and the manager has not been tempted to move him down. Utley ended an 0-for-21 streak with a first-inning single on Wednesday, but is still hitting just .120 on the year.
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“I can count, I don’t know, maybe 10 or 12 balls that he’s hit right on the nose since opening day,” Sandberg said. “That’s a good sign, even though he has nothing to show for it."
Utley has indeed been a bit snakebitten. He is just 3 for 11 on line drives, according to Baseball-Reference. That’s a .273 batting average, while the league average on line drives tends to hover around .650.
For his career, Utley is a .739 hitter on line drives. So, while not all line drives are created equal, he should have about four more hits this season. But even four additional hits would have Utley’s batting average at .200 rather than .118. That’s not the Utley the Phillies are accustomed to seeing. And it’s been this way for quite a while. Since June 1, 2014, Utley has a .333 slugging percentage in 436 at-bats.
But in addition to remaining confident in his second baseman, Sandberg empathizes. He acknowledged going through stretches like this in every year of his Hall of Fame career.
"If Chase is anything like me, he just wants at-bats, wants the games to start so he can get his at-bats, to have some balls fall in and to get things to go his way and to put some hits together," Sandberg said.
“For me, he’s always a threat every time he walks up to home plate.”