During the course of the next six weeks, baseball fans in Atlanta and Miami will have an opportunity to witness firsthand the skills of the Major League’s best second baseman Chase Utley. Utley, who almost assuredly will be named the National League starter for the third consecutive season, continues to rough up opposing pitchers for the Phillies. Now in his big-league sixth season and fourth as a full-timer, Utley is once again on pace to drive in more than 100 runs for the fourth straight year and could hit over .300 for the third consecutive campaign.

From all reports I have read about Utley, he is a quiet, tireless worker, which is probably why we don’t know much about him. He’ll turn 30 in December and didn’t burst onto the scene until he was 26 after being a part-time fill-in in his first two seasons in the Bigs. But once inserted into the line-up, he has been nothing short of amazing.

His former coach at UCLA leads the parade in talking positively about the former Bruin.

“I've had a lot of good hitters, but Chase is different from them,” Gary Adams said. “You know, we use aluminum bats in college. Chase was unusual in that he had to make very little adjustment to the wood bat compared to the rest of the guys. He could get the bat around so quickly. Even in high school, it was hard to believe a guy that skinny could hit the ball that far.”

Utley has bashed 117 home runs in 634 games with the Phils (as of June 1), and has knocked in 438 runs. He already surpassed the number of seasons driving in 100 runs or more by Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan and has equaled the number of seasons Morgan batted over .300. In the power department, Utley is on target to pass Morgan, Charley Gehringer, Ryne Sandberg and Rogers Hornsby in dingers, and maybe even Jeff Kent, the active leader of second basemen with 369 long balls.

“This is a guy that's off the charts. He's going to do what he can to get an edge,” said Philadelphia’s assistant GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. “These guys don't come along too often.

Of Utley’s 707 career hits, 298 have been for extra bases. His career slugging percentage at this juncture is .534, a number that places him behind only Hornsby (.577) for second basemen, but Hornsby also played 603 combined games at shortstop, third base, first base and the outfield.

"He's basically a baseball rat," Amaro says. "It doesn't surprise people in our organization that he's made such improvement. He was going to make himself be as good as possible — defensively and offensively.”

Defensively, Utley isn’t a liability fielding at a .981 clip since entering the league while playing second and a few stints at first base. He’s made approximately one error per every 10 starts.

Utley also is adept at stealing bases (50 of 61 lifetime), although he doesn’t get many opportunities with sluggers Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell hitting behind him in the order.

I’m not going to try to make any additional comparisons about Utley until he has played another five seasons or more, but I will state unequivocally that he is a pleasure to watch play. He knows the game and he has one of the sweetest and quickest swings in the game. And one other thing is certain, I’ll be at Turner Field to watch him play next week, and if you are a Braves’ fan or just a baseball fan in general, I implore you to join me.

Chase Utley is one of the few players I don’t mind paying to watch, and the Phillies are battling for the top spot in the NL East again this season after capturing the division last year.

Utley’s Career Numbers
Season      G           HRs        RBIs        Avg.
2003        43            2            21          .239
2004        94           13           57          .308
2005        147         28          105         .291
2006        160         32          102         .309   
2007        132         22          103         .332
2008        57          20           50          .312
Totals      633        117          438        .301

And, speaking of those type of players, Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher Micah Owings was back in Atlanta last weekend and pitched well Sunday against the Braves. Born in Gainesville, Ga., Owings posted an 8-8 record and a 4.30 ERA last season for the NL West winners. This season, his record is 6-3 after beating the hometown team while scattering six hits and two earned runs in six innings.

While I was impressed with his demeanor on the mound, I was even more taken with his offensive approach. Last season, Owings hit .333 in 60 official at-bats, had seven doubles, four homers and knocked in 15 runs as a rookie. The advanced scouting reports may have gotten to him this season, as his average has dipped to .297 so far this season and he has just one home run in 37 official at-bats.

But, the thing that wowed me more than anything else Sunday, is that I had the opportunity to watch a Major League novelty — a starting pitcher running out a ground ball. Owings hit a weak grounder to Braves’ third baseman Omar Infante and the 6-foot-5, 225-pound pitcher sprinted to first base despite there being no one on base and one out in the inning. Infante’s throw to Mark Texeira just beat Owings to the bag. I’m not sure that Owings broke into a dead sprint because his family and friends were in the stands or not, but it certainly was a pleasure to see it happen. They say a triple play or and inside-the-park-homer are two of baseball’s rarest occurrences. Aside from Micah Owings, I believe seeing a pitcher hustle down the line is similar to a visit by Haley’s Comet.

Photo Credit :(AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr., File)