Chase Utley versus the Yankees' adjustments: The Phillies' second baseman is not missing any fastballs; he is hammering everything thrown in the inner half of the strike zone. And with the benefit of a day off, the Yankees presumably will adjust significantly how they pitch to him. First and foremost, they probably will look for ways to make him uncomfortable in the box, perhaps busting fastballs down and in (although Utley famously would rather get hit by pitches than give ground in the batter's box). Secondly, Utley probably will see a steady diet of breaking balls, and if Andy Pettitte or any other Yankees pitcher winds up walking him -- and instead winds up having to face the slumping Ryan Howard -- that's an alternative he'll likely be comfortable with.
Shane Victorino versus his finger pain: Victorino is a tough guy who will try to play with a swollen index finger; he'll want to play. But Fernando Vina, my colleague on "Baseball Tonight," pointed out how important that particular finger is to a hitter -- it'll be the top finger on his top hand as he bats right-handed against Pettitte. You can bet that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who knows hitting, will assess whether Victorino's hand is functional enough. The guess here is Victorino will play, and if he doesn't, Ben Francisco will be in center and Raul Ibanez will be in left, and the Phillies' late-inning defense will be diminished. Victorino may have to sit out, Marc Topkin writes.
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Buster Olney
Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.
He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).
Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."
For more key matchups that will decide Wednesday night's game and much more, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Buster Olney
