So far, the 2008 season has bordered on "magical" for Phillies' all-everything second baseman Chase Utley. Last night he slugged his Major League-leading 21st home run in the first inning and then chipped in with a pair of singles and two diving catches to save the Phillies' 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
More than that, Utley smashed a homer in the fifth straight game to tie the franchise record for homers in consecutive games. Better yet, it was the second time this season that Utley has homered in five straight games.
More?
Well, check it out:
- He is second in the league with 38 extra-base hits.
- He is hitting .419 (13 for 31) with seven homers and 20 RBIs in his last eight games.
- He is second in the National League with 52 RBIs, runs with 48 and slugging percentage at .680.
- He is fourth in the league in OPS at 1.083.
- He is 11th in the league in hitting at .320 and doubles with 16.
Moreover, Utley leads all National Leaguers in the balloting for the All-Star Game and has to be one of the top two early candidates for the MVP voting even though there are nearly four months left in the season.
If Utley weren't (intentionally?) the worst interview in all of professional sports, maybe we'd be witnessing a Jeter and/or A-Rod in the making. You know, a HUGE superstar...
Nevertheless, it has been Utley's home-run hitting that has been the most eye-opening facet of his game this season. With 21 bombs, he has already equaled last season's total and can tie his tally from 2006 with one more blast. Prior to that, Utley slugged a career-best 32 in 2005, which is right about where the Phillies' brass had him pegged when he was drafted in the first round out of UCLA in June of 2000.
"I didn't envision him being able to get up around 30," assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "As he matured and developed more strength in his hands and forearms, he generated more bat speed. That was the element we were light on."
Charlie Manuel, one of the game's most notable hitting gurus, gets as giddy as a schoolgirl when talking about Utley's smooth, compact and pure swing. After last night's game he talked about the alacrity in which line drives rocket off his second-baseman's bat and how those liners seem to be just high enough to find the seats beyond the right-field fence.
“He’s hitting line drives high. He’s hitting it hard and they’re high enough to go out,” Manuel said, noting that statistics like batting average and home runs usually have a way of evening out in the end, as well as his theory that “a home run is nothing more than a well-hit fly ball that lands on the other side of the fence.”
So what about those "well-hit fly balls?" How does wiry and sinewy Chase Utley rip all those homers?
Maybe it's the ballpark?
According to the great Hit Tracker web site, Utley is tied for the Major League lead for "Lucky Homers" with Alfonso Soriano, and is third in the Majors in "Just Enough" blasts. Based on the way the good folks at Hit Tracker crunch the numbers and figure in all the variables, Utley probably should have just a maximum of 16 homers.
Sixteen home runs on June 2 is a total that would be second in the National League and certainly nothing to sneeze at. But perhaps a bigger factor is that 16 of Utley's 21 homers have come in Citizens Bank Park, though two of his "Just Enough" homers have come on the road in Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
Still, Manuel probably says it best:
"If we didn’t have Chase Utley we wouldn’t be where we’re at," Manuel said.