UPDATE: David Hale with some dope video and quotes from the session.
OK, the headline might be a little glib, and it's better than the worst case (or even really bad case) scenarios we were all envisioning. Still, we didn't really gather much more this afternoon than we all previously expected.
Perhaps the best pieces of news were that: 1. He was in more pain last spring than he is now; and 2. He's not currently considering any surgical options; 3. Retirement = lol.
The bad news? It is officially the left knee that is worse now.
Still, though, this is the Phillies, their lack of forthrightness and fondness for misdirection are borderline legendary at this point. Combined with Chase Utley's "muteness" on almost everything but World Championness, it was highly unlikely that we were going to get much new information anyway.
All we know at this point is that Utley will miss the start of the season and that he's received instruction on new stretching and manual therapies. Probably the best indicator of the seriousness of the injury will be how aggressively Ruben Amaro, Jr. and Co. pursue additional middle infield help this spring.
Just like last year, Chase Utley at 75% is better than the large majority of second basemen in MLB. It behooves him, and the Phillies, to maximize his effective playing time going forward, no matter what that entails.
You may now return to your lives.