All The Small Things

I attended the Phillies game on 4/11/08 when the Phils hosted the Chicago Cubs. The night was highlighted by Pat Burrell’s continued thumping of opposing pitching and by Jimmy Rollins’ absence from the starting lineup for the third straight night with an ankle sprain. Burrell homered and doubled, each for the fourth time this season and drove in three runs boosting his total to 12 for the year. Also garnering some attention in the game was starting pitcher Brett Myers’ performance which was solid, contrary to popular belief early in the game. Myers settled down nicely after surrendering back to back solo homerun balls in the first to Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.

For those of you not familiar with Myers’ temperament, giving up a homerun often translates to manifest frustration on the mound. A second homer in a row would normally be expected to precipitate the immediate implosion of any focus he might have maintained after the first blast. The fact that Myers maintained his composure, especially following back to back homeruns early in the game, should give manager Charlie Manuel a boost of confidence in his ace, who experienced some struggles in his first two starts. In those outings combined, he gave up seven earned runs and two homers over just ten innings. In that time, he struck out just six and walked five. Friday night against Chicago’s loaded lineup, which includes Alfonso Soriano, Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, and young stud receiver Geovany Soto, Myers scattered just five hits over eight innings, giving up three earned while striking out five and not walking a batter. In fact, the only walk surrendered in the ballgame came at the expense of Carlos Zambrano, as he issued the lone free pass of the contest to Shane Victorino.

I was pleased with Victorino’s performance filling the leadoff spot of the order in Rollins’ absence. Victorino led off the game with a single. Immediately, that put the Cubs in a situation where they had to be aware of Victorino’s speed. Lee held Victorino on the bag at first, while second baseman Mark DeRosa cheated towards second base at double play depth. This set of circumstances creates the optimal amount of empty space on the right side of the infield for the left handed Greg Dobbs, who was batting behind Victorino. Victorino took his lead off first in anticipation of a ball hit in the hole on the right side, and right fielder Daryle Ward was playing Dobbs extremely deep, just a few steps from the warning track. It was almost as if Lou Piniella had decided to concede third base to Victorino on a single to right field. Dobbs capped off the at-bat with a single to right, sending Victorino to third base with nobody out. The Phillies stranded Victorino there, but this little bit of offensive life prevented Zambrano from getting into too good of a rhythm for the Phillies to battle back against after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning.

Victonino finished the night 2-3 with a walk, and Dobbs, who also collected an RBI double to left-center field, exited the game early as Pedro Feliz was called upon to pinch hit against left hander Sean Marshall for Dobbs. The Feliz substitution also served to provide better defensive support later in the game

Now, the focal point of this particular column is Chase Utley. I highlighted some individual performances by Myers, Victorino, Dobbs, and Pat Burrell, but without Utley’s contributions, it would be a stretch to say that the Phillies would have won the game. Utley finished the night going 1-4, striking out twice, and leaving four runners on base. He even struck out into a double play in the first inning, leading to Victorino’s being stranded on third in the opening frame. I am a die-hard Phillies fan, but I took the time last night to watch Chase play the game just as an observer and as student of the game.

What is obvious about Chase Utley on his best and average nights is that he has tremendous power and possesses the ability to hit for a very high average. Utley is the ideal three-hole hitter on this team with the big-bopping Ryan Howard protecting him. He thrives in this setting because he sees more pitches to hit. Pitchers cannot afford to have him on base when Howard comes up, so Utley sees more fastballs that he can anticipate, or “sit on,” and drive than do most hitters. He hits to all fields and possesses one of the smoothest, most perfect strokes in all of baseball. Other aspects of Chase that are apparent to the casual fan are that he hustles constantly, never wants to take an inning off, and plays through pain. In one game last week, Utley got plunked by three pitches. Often, he can be caught leaning into 90+ mph fastballs, and is rarely one to jump out of the way of a pitch. He keeps his mouth shut and does his job extremely well every day. He plays with the same intensity now as he did several years ago while making the league minimum before he signed his $85 million contract before last season. This probably impresses me most about him as a baseball player. It distinguishes him from the businessmen who wear baseball uniforms.

The crowd of about 35,000 at Citizen’s Bank Park that night remembers Utley as having had a “bad game,” recalling his two strikeouts and 4 LOB’s, if they happened to take note of that statistic during the game. What slips past most people is Utley’s ability to keep innings alive offensively. He does little things that make the defense’s job as difficult as possible. Utley runs out every ground ball. He takes the extra base on balls that drop in front of lackadaisical outfielders.

That night, Utley was on first base with Ryan Howard at bat and no outs. Howard rolled over a pitch to the right side of the infield that looked to be a double play ball to kill the Phils’ threat. Howard does not run well, and most players on first would be inclined to make a soft slide at the bag at second and concede the twin killing. Utley broke from first into a full sprint to the outside of the bag at second, and went hard after SS Ryan Theriot turning the double play. Theriot’s throw was late and off-line, and Howard lived at first because of the hustle and hard base-running by Utley. Pat Burrell hit next and belted a two run homer that put the Phillies on top for good. Without Utley’s presence of mind and determination to break up the double play, Burrell’s blast ties the game instead of giving the Phils the lead, and the complexion of the game is completely changed. Myers would not be pitching ahead, and the Phillies might have had a harder time continuing to jump on Zambrano. Utley also beat out a potential double play ball in the game. He did not end up scoring, but that hustle and ability to turn an out into a baserunner will not go unrewarded.

While Utley led off of first base after beating out the double-play attempt, Zambrano moved to pick him off and had him dead to rights at first base. When Utley recognized the pickoff, he could have either tried in vain to dive back to the bag or to bolt for second. Chase Utley is a smart baseball player, and no coach, teammate, or fan of his can debate that fact. He is able to assess situations and make the decision that is more advantageous to his team before most players can even react to what is happening in front of them on the field. When Zambrano moved to first, Utley recognized that since Ryan Howard was at bat, the Cubs infield was slightly askew. As Zambrano threw to Lee at first Utley made a dash for second and saw the positioning of Theriot’s body in relation to the bag. He slid in the throwing lane from first, making the exchange between Lee and Theriot more difficult. Utley was safe at second instead of picked off first. That is the difference between Chase Utley having his head in the game, and an average player getting caught napping off first base by a right-handed pitcher.

In the past, I have also seen Utley let a ball hit softly in the air drop with a runner on first because the batter jogged out of the batter’s box down to first base. Utley allowed the ball to fall in front of him and flipped to Jimmy Rollins covering the bag at second, who threw to first base to turn a double-play on Carlos Beltran as he was loafed down to first. The umpires disallowed Utley’s thoughtful play, allowing the Met runner to stay at first and calling Beltran out, even though the Infield Fly Rule was not in effect. Utley’s baseball smarts and unrelenting style of play make him one of the best ball players in the game and certainly my favorite to watch, not because he plays for the Phillies, but because he plays the game the right way and plays it well.