The diagnosis on his right knee was tendinitis in the tendon that connects the kneecap to the lower leg. With rest and treatment, the pain should subside and Utley will return to the field. As Utley and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. described the situation, it sounded like no big deal.
Listen a little closer, though, and you can hear the tick-tick-tick of the clock that has been running since this team started winning division titles back in 2007. Everyone who cares about these Phillies, from Amaro to the average fan, understands that clock is going to reach all zeros at some point.
The extraordinary moves of the last few years - signing Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, trading for Roy Oswalt - were made to get the most out of this core of everyday players while they're still in their primes. Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard - the Big Three who inspired creation of the Four Aces - all had mediocre 2010 seasons (by their standards). Injuries affected all three.
There is not going to be an official announcement when this core hits its expiration date. It doesn't work that way. Gradually, over time, skills erode and bodies give out and hard decisions get made.
So it is reasonable to wonder where this knee pain of Utley's fits on the time line. He said Sunday that he's experienced it in the past, that it would last for a day or a week and then go away. This time, the pain was bad enough for long enough that Utley decided to tell the team's athletic trainers.
Was that a change? Would he have played through something like this in the past?
"More than likely," Utley said. But now, he said, "I think at this point it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather miss some games down here than miss some games during the season."
