Utley Heads to Clearwater

Chase Utley is taking the next step.

He is headed to Clearwater, Fla., where he could play an extended Spring Training game as early as Monday. He hopes to rejoin the Phillies sooner rather than later, but only he knows for sure and Sunday he offered no timetable for his return from a chronically injured left knee that has kept him sidelined since he flied out to deep center field in the ninth inning in Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series.

“I don’t have a time frame,” he said during an unexpected announcement in front of his locker following a 5-1 loss to the Marlins at Citizens Bank