Utley Ahead of Schedule for Return

Injured Phillies second baseman Chase Utley has given little sign of backing off his prediction that he will be ready to take the field come Opening Day.

Though the prognosis for his recovery from hip surgery has been estimated to take until June or beyond, Utley is ahead of schedule and is eyeing a coming opportunity to get into a game at Grapefruit League camp.

"It still kind of day-to-day, but it's getting to the point where we're feeling better about going out there," Utley told Sirius XM's Seth Everett, host of the afternoon baseball talk show on Channel 175. "... We'll see how it goes."

Utley said that his workouts are approaching higher intensity, indicating that he should be ready for limited action in the field.