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Breaking News: Utley, Feliz To Undergo Surgery

Chase Utley will be out four to six months with hip surgery.

UPDATE (1:05 p.m.): There’s more.

Pedro Feliz will have back surgery.

Well, with Utley, we saw it coming. We thought there was some problem with Utley, as he struggled through the second half. While his defense remained stellar, and he still ran well, his hitting just didn’t seem right.

Now, don’t get crazy, everyone. Likely, Utley will miss Spring Training and use some time to get back in shape. His body is, for what we know, pretty strong and adaptable, so I’d say he should be back in full force by May.

And really, considering how the Phillies fared last season, this was the best scenario for a surgery.

Meanwhile, Feliz will have lower back surgery today. He’ll need up to three months to recover, so he could be back for Spring Training.

I’ll say this — it’s now imperative that the Phillies get a good bat this offseason; moreover, Jason Donald now might be taken off all trading tables.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.