A major key to the Phillies season is the hope that the offense will return to form, and become a threat to put up more than five runs every night. Chase Utley is a critical part of that plan, and now the questions about his health raises concerns about whether or not the offense will be able to do that. Utley’s cortisone shot had little effect on his ailing knee, and the Phillies are now exploring their other options to get him healthy, including surgery.
If Utley is out for any extended period of time, it creates another hole in a lineup that already has its fair share of question marks. Utley’s absence would move Raul Ibanez up to the three hole, where he had some success last season, and move Wilson Valdez back in to the starting lineup.
The larger problem is that Utley’s absence would impact Ryan Howard. If the Phillies don’t have a strong offensive threat batting in front of and behind Howard, it will make it too easy for teams to pitch around Howard. When Howard doesn’t see good pitches, he becomes impatient, and gets himself into bad habits by swinging at bad pitches.
A year ago, the Phillies had a healthy Chase Utley and Jayson Werth to protect Howard. A year later, it looks like Utley and Werth will be replaced by Raul Ibanez and Ben Francisco as Howard’s protection to start the season. That’s quite a drop in talent.
Ibanez, at age 39, is a significant question mark himself. Ibanez is only hitting .240 in Spring Training with just 1 RBI. Ibanez saw his power numbers dramatically decline last season, hitting only 16 homeruns in 2010 compared to 34 he hit in 2009. It’s a lot to ask of a an aging player coming off of a down season to step in to a prominent role in the lineup and be effective. 
Francisco has had a very impressive spring so far, but it’s far too early to get excited about him. Francisco has hit .320 with two homeruns and six RBI’s so far. His solid performances have been some of the best news out of Spring Training, but it remains to be seen if he can sustain that level of play.
The offense as a whole has been unimpressive this spring. The Phillies may have the best pitching staff in baseball, but they found out in the post season last year that their pitching can only take them so far with an offense that struggles to generate more than two runs a game. The lineup hasn’t done much to inspire confidence, and even if Utley can return sooner rather then later, there’s no telling how effective he’ll be if he’s still battling nagging injuries.
