The Big Picture (04/04)
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April 4, 2007 Player ProfileChase Utley
In order for the Phillies to remain competitive in 2007, a lot is riding on Ryan Howard and Chase Utley carrying the offense. For the Phillies to have a shot at the playoffs, the right side of the infield will have to replicate their 2006 campaigns. In the case of Howard, he may not be Bonds in the long term, but he'll be taking ball four with regular frequency, making him a devastating on base threat. At the same time, there are some real questions concerning whether or not Utley will be able to sustain his 2006 level of production. Chase Cameron Utley was originally drafted by the Dodgers as a shortstop in the second round of the 1997 amateur draft after a season where he was a Second Team High School All-American for Long Beach Polytechnic High School. Utley decided to go to UCLA rather than sign with the Dodgers, and before the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2000 draft he had been named a Pac-10 Conference All-Star as both an outfielder and infielder, First Team College All-American as an infielder, and Oklahoma City Regional MVP for the College World Series on the strength of his 1999-2000 campaigns, where he hit .317/.380/.557 and .382/.448/.689, respectively. The accolades continued to pile up for Utley when he made his professional debut, as he was named a Short-Season A-ball All-Star at second base during his time for Batavia in the New York-Penn League. Utley would wind up spending only two years in the low minors before a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre:
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