Chase Cameron Utley is a solid second baseman who knows how to swing a ball with great velocity. Selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2nd round (76th overall) of the 1997 amateur entry draft, Chase chose to attend UCLA after graduating from Poly ( Long Beach , CA ) High School. He re-entered the draft in 2000 and was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1st round (15th overall) of the amateur entry draft. Chase made his Major League debut on April 4, 2003 against Colorado Rockies and hit a grand slam in his 2nd at-bat of the game for his 1st ML hit. He became 3rd Phillie in franchise history to hit a grand slam for his 1st hit and the first Phillie to homer for his 1st hit. In 2004, he finished 5th in NL in RBI among players with at least 250 at-bats. His batting average was .355 with 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB as pinch-hitter; and was ranked 3rd in the majors in pinch-HR, 4th in pinch-avg and tied for 7th in pinch-RBI. With the onset of the 2005 season, Chase Utley was moved to second base. In June 2005, Polanco was traded to the Detroit Tigers for RP Ugueth Urbina and INF Ramón Martínez. |
