Chase Utley would never admit it, but his ailing hip, the one requiring surgery this offseason, bothered him at times during the 2008 season. He’s having surgery in New York next week, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which is a class good news-bad news situation for Phillies fans.

The bad news is, Utley will not participate in baseball activities for three months, which leaves his status for Opening Day in serious question. If he is on the tail end of a potential six-month timetable for recovery, Utley may not return to the field until May or June. Read more »

Jimmy Rollins went 0-for-3 in Game 5.

Chase Utley went 0-for-3 with a run scored, but left five runners on base.

Even Ryan Howard, who was hitting at a .353 clip before taking an 0-for-4 in Game 5, struggled in the game that took nearly half a week to play. Thankfully for the Philadelphia Phillies, Jayson Werth went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base. Read more »

The Philadelphia Phillies are a well-publicized 1-for-28 with runners in scoring position in this World Series. The team has had little problem getting to Tampa Bay Rays pitchers, but from there, it has inexplicably frozen up and responded poorly in the clutch. Every player in the lineup has been part of the problem, which is equal parts good pitching, bad execution and flat out not getting the job done.

Take the early part of Game 2, for instance. After the Phillies botched a couple of key chances, they had virtually no chance of overcoming a 3-0 deficit on the road.

In the second inning, with runners on first and second with no outs, Shane Victorino fouled out to third base and failed to advance runners. Had Victorino executed and been productive with his out, a wild pitch by James Shields to the next batter, Greg Dobbs, would have scored a run. Read more »

Who said that the Philadelphia Phillies would have trouble dealing with pop ups and fly balls getting lost in the dome and catwalks of Tropicana Field?

Who said that the Phillies would have difficulty fielding grounders on the terrible artificial turf that the Rays have played on for 88 games to date?

No one must have told this to the NL Champions as they took home field advantage away from the Tampa Bay Rays with a Game 1 victory last night. The Phillies overcame a week-long layoff to put themselves in the driver’s seat for this year’s Fall Classic. Read more »

After a grueling 162 game regular season and weeks of playoff baseball in rigorous cold weather, the World Series has finally arrived pitting the Philadelphia Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hold onto your hats because history is about to be made, regardless of who wins.

Can the Phillies bring Philadelphia its first major sports championship since 1983, or do the Tampa Bay Rays win their first World Series in franchise history? ImaginaryDiamond.com is here to break down both teams, and tell you who is going to raise the hardware at series end. Read more »

It used to be, that you could get away with drafting your starting second baseman fairly low in your league. However, in today’s game, there are just too many studs at second to pass up if you are looking to have success in your league.

If you look around the league, you just might notice that some of the top run producers and highly touted fantasy players are at second base. The numbers are increasing steadily with each coming year and it probably wouldn’t hurt to pay close attention to your pre-draft second base rankings. Read more »

The middle infield (2B/SS) gets a bad rap as being the thinnest and most difficult position to fill in fantasy baseball. While the sentiment is probably true, it is also an over-generalization that lumps second basemen and shortstops together. Where fantasy owners are hard-pressed to find production beyond the top tier of shortstops, a group of dynamic second basemen is emerging to make filling 2B/SS spots a much easier task.

Waiver wire finds like Mark DeRosa, Mike Aviles (also a SS), Alexei Ramirez and Jose Lopez have added to a group that runs 20 deep with steady, if unspectacular, producers. Ian Kinsler and Chase Utley give the group star power at the top, while the position’s depth can go toe-to-toe with any other in fantasy. The new-found strength has eased the usually excruciating middle infield search, which is a breath of fresh air for fantasy owners everywhere. Read more »

It’s always nice catching a highlight and seeing that a major league team scored 20 runs in a game. For a game based on statistics, both in fantasy and real-life baseball, there is fun to be had in checking out that box score. And early in a season like this, a big individual outburst can have quite an effect on a player’s bottom line. More on that below.

Of course, for as good as the Phillies’ offense was, the Rockies’ pitching staff was just as bad. Fortunately, in fantasy, it was a bunch of no-names absorbing all the damage. A sketchy, six-man effort got through the game by throwing a whopping 202 pitches and allowing 19 hits and 8 walks. Read more »

While Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins is nearing his return from the disabled list (sprained ankle), three other players from the National League East, including teammate Chase Utley, are duking it out with Lance Berkman and Rafael Furcal for early NL Most Valuable Player honors. Rollins, last year’s MVP, went on the DL for the first time in his career with a sprained ankle, but looked plenty healthy in going 6-for-8 in two extended spring training games at Class-A Clearwater this week.

Rollins is expected to make his return to the parent club Friday in San Francisco. A native of the Bay Area, Rollins told the Philadelphia Daily News that he would like to play at AT&T Park on Mother’s Day. The Phillies have been cautious with Rollins so far, and a three-game weekend set in San Francisco would be an ideal time to return. Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb is scheduled to take the mound in Thursday’s series finale against the Phils, and Monday is an off day. Read more »

Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell and Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Ben Sheets are two players who, throughout the years, have become a bit overrated. Burrell’s bat has previously gone silent in key situations, and the injury bug has bitten Sheets on-and-off in recent season. It had been a long wait for the two to fulfill their massive potential, but early signs are good in 2008: Burrell is on a tear, batting .354 and Sheets’ ERA is under 1.00.

Burrell has saved the Phillies with clutch hits multiple times this season. With Ryan Howard struggling, Burrell and Chase Utley have kept the Phillies afloat in the National League East standings. Burrell, who is leading the majors with 25 runs batted in, has been relaxed at the plate this season, and willing to go with the pitch to the opposite field, instead of trying to pull everything like he has in the past. Read more »