Phils' Utley, Feliz need surgery
Sports Network | November 20, 2008
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Phillies announced Thursday that half of its starting infield -- All- Star second baseman Chase Utley and third baseman Pedro Feliz -- will undergo surgery.
Utley will have surgery on his right hip next week. The 29-year-old was rumored to have problems with the hip most of the season, as his offensive numbers dipped considerably after the All-Star break. Utley still finished with a .292 batting average, a career-high 33 home runs, and 104 RBI.
After a poor performance at the plate early in the playoffs for the Phillies, Utley rebounded to hit .353 with a homer and three RBI in Philadelphia's five- game win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. He only batted .167 in the World Series, but hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Philadelphia's Game 1 win over Tampa Bay. The Phillies went on to defeat the Rays in five games for their first World Series title since 1980.
The UCLA product will undergo an arthroscopic evaluation with treatment of any labral or bony injury, according to a release issued by the Phillies on Thursday. The recovery will allow for the initiation of baseball activities between three and four months, however, the total recovery time may require four to six months, which could sideline Utley for the first few months of the 2009 season.
Feliz, 33, is scheduled to have low back surgery on Thursday. He was on the disabled list for 26 days this past season because of a lower back injury. The procedure, a lumbar disectomy, will be performed by Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles, and Feliz will need two to three months to recover.
The ninth-year veteran batted .249 with 14 homers and 58 RBI for the Phillies in 2008, his first season with the club after eight years in San Francisco. Feliz hit .333 in the World Series, and his RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 5 providing the go-ahead run in Philadelphia's 4-3, series-clinching win.
