May 3, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley (26) celebrates hitting a home run during the third inning against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

According to CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury, Chase Utley will undergo an MRI on his sore rib cage, meaning he will not be in the lineup for the series finale against the Marlins tonight in Miami.

In case you’re a bit late to proceedings, Utley now joins Carlos Ruiz, Mike Adams and Ryan Howard as players who have needed a trip inside the MRI machine in the last few days, making the MRI machine a more popular Philadelphia attraction lately than The Franklin Institute.

I know we all said we wanted to get Freddy Galvis some more at bats, but I don’t think anyone wanted this.

Thanks, baseball.

Phils GM Ruben Amaro told Comcast Sportsnet this morning, “We’ll probably MRI him today or tomorrow, figure out how significant it is and go from there.”

I love that we’re now using MIR as a verb.

After last night’s game, Charlie Manuel said, “When he took a swing, he felt a little burn, a pain in his rib cage. Sometimes if you keep playing that can get more serious and you lose time. I’ve had those things. It’s hard to breathe, really hard to swing. We’ll see. Hopefully we don’t lose him for very long.”

Obviously, it completely sucks to lose your best offensive player for any length of time, and should it be required, a DL stint for Chase could not come at a worse time. Utley is the team leader in OPS (.814) and RBIs (25) and is second in HRs (7), and batting average (.272). The weak offense cannot afford to lose the one reliable bat they have.

I guess the good news is that his knees have not collapsed in on themselves like a couple of matchsticks holding up half a human. That’s all good. But ribcage/oblique strains are taken very seriously in Major League circles nowadays.

They’re all the rage, really.

Unfortunately, these are some of the consequences of age. As the body gets older, it breaks down a bit. Utley hurting himself during batting practice is like me straining my knee getting out of the shower. Or when I throw my back out sneezing. That kind of stuff happens as you get old.

If Utley does go on the disabled list, the Phils could recall Darin Ruf from AAA or Lehigh second baseman Cesar Hernandez, who is having an outstanding season for the Iron Pigs (.320/.386/.456, OPS .842, 2 HRs, 5 2Bs, 6 3Bs).

Stupid Father Time.

Apr 21, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr talks with media prior to playing the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Which makes all the stranger what the rest of us are doing here.  Regardless, fountain of eternal hope/hope-ruiner Amaro has taken to a microphone to express the sheer joy he gets from watching these Phillies dangle a .500 record in front of everybody, then run away giggling.

Amaro answered some questions recently, offering up some real gems.

“Our job is to try to contend every year.”

So don’t plan that rebuild for any forthcoming years, you cowards.

“I don’t have a crystal ball that says it will and it hasn’t shown the consistency that would make you think it will. But there are reasons they have those numbers on the back of their baseball cards.”

To reiterate: Ruben Amaro has NO crystal ball, DOES have baseball cards, which he implements as scouting/evaluation tools.

“Obviously we haven’t had consistency in the middle-relief corps, but it’s not our biggest problem. We’d like to be better there.”

It’s tough to argue with the logic that the Phillies’ biggest problem is that they are not a better baseball team.

“…if we were to lose Ryan [Howard] and [Carlos Ruiz] for an extended amount of time, it would be very tough on us. There are other people who can step up in both cases and keep us afloat, but I don’t anticipate Ryan’s injury being a long-term one.”

There are other people, yes.  Just like there were other people last year.  And they’re gone now.  What Amaro can’t say in public is how barely believable it is that these other people will be able to carry a team somewhere impressive.

“Right now, I don’t think it’s unrealistic for us to still think we’re contending in this division. I think we have the talent to compete and contend in this division.”

So do I, after we win.  After we lose I become an advocate for moving the franchise the Charlotte.

May 20, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Zach Duke (30) is pulled from the game against the San Francisco Giants in the fourth inning at AT

You know, as bad as the Phillies have played at times this year, being a fan of the Washington Nationals must be a far more frustrating experience.

Last season, the Nationals had the best record in baseball at 98-64 and won the NL East by four games over Atlanta, and by 17 games over the Phils. And although they got beaten by the Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs, their future certainly appeared bright.

They came into 2013 with two of the best young pitchers in the game, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman, one of the game’s two most exciting young players in Bryce Harper, a lineup with a nice mix of veteran talent and youth, the best rotation in the National League, and a bullpen with an established closer in Rafael Soriano.

On paper, the Nats appeared to have no holes.

But things have not gone well in DC so far this year. After last night’s brutal 4-2 loss to the Giants in 10 innings, the Nationals fell to .500 on the season at 23-23, 4 1/2 games behind Atlanta, and just one game better than the Phils.

That’s right. The Nationals are just one game ahead of the Phillies in the standings.

Tuesday night’s loss in San Francisco was just brutal. Holding a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Soriano gave up an RBI triple with two outs to tie the game, then watched as Pablo Sandoval hit a Yunesky Maya offering out of the park for a walk-off two-run homer. It was Washington’s fourth straight defeat, and they are now 3-6 on their current west coast road trip.

To add insult to injury, Soriano blamed the defensive alignment in the outfield for preventing Harper from catching the game-tying triple. After the game, Harper took the blame, saying he was afraid of hitting the outfield wall, which isn’t surprising considering he nearly broke his face on the outfield wall in Los Angeles last week.

So, not only are the Nats losing, they’re blaming each other afterwards. Not a good sign.

Through 46 games, their 2013 run differential is a staggeringly bad -27, which is only slight better than the Phils’ -34. And there are ominous signs that things are not going to get better anytime soon.

Relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus pulled a Ryan Madson after Monday’s loss to San Francisco, breaking his hand after punching a locker. Oddly, Madson and Mattheus both suffered their self-inflicted wounds in San Fran.

Not only that, there are signs Jayson Werth, who signed a 7-year, $126 million contract with the Nats after the 2010 season, could be out another two weeks with a stubborn hamstring injury. Team officials described the Werth medical report as “alarming.”  That’s not a word you want to have associated with the guy you still owe $83 million AFTER this season. Werth has played in just 238 of the 370 games the Nats have played since his arrival. It’s fair to wonder if the Werth contract is actually worse than Ryan Howard’s deal.

The Nats also lost Wilson Ramos to the DL for a hamstring injury recently (seriously Nats trainers, let’s stretch those things out a bit in pre-game warm-ups, huh?) and Ross Detwiler had to be scratched from his start Monday in San Francisco.

However, the big problem for Washington, much like the Phillies, has been the offense, which has actually been WORSE than the Phils’.

Apr 29, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth (28) is checked by head trainer Lee Kuntz and manager Davey Johnson (5) after being injured on a swing against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Nationals 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Let me say that again. THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS’ OFFENSE HAS BEEN WORSE THAN THE PHILLIES’.

Let that sink in for a moment.

The Nats have scored just 157 runs in 64 games this year, an average of 3.41 runs per game. The Phils, meanwhile, have scored 164 in 64 games, for an average of 3.56 runs per game. And while the Phillies’ offensive futility was predictable, given the number of at bats John Mayberry, Laynce Nix, Delmon Young, Erik Kratz and Ben Revere were projected to get, as well as the predictable decline of Ryan Howard, the Nationals’ failure to score runs is definitely more surprising.

Their team batting average of .226 and OPS of .654 are both second-worst in baseball (only the Marlins are worse).

Why?

Last year, Adam LaRoche had an OPS of .853 and hit 33 HRs and 35 2Bs. This year, it’s .696 with 7 HRs and 3 2Bs. Danny Espinosa has been among the worst hitters in baseball, with a .163/.191/.296 slash line, a staggering 38 Ks and just 3 BBs. Ian Desmond‘s OPS is down from .845 last year to .767 this year. Ryan Zimmerman, the Nats’ best hitter, has been decent, with an .800 OPS, but has also missed time with injuries this year, playing in just 31 of the team’s first 46 games. Denard Span has been a good pick-up, posting a .333 on-base percentage out of the leadoff spot, but with just five stolen bases so far this year. And Werth’s struggles were mentioned above, having played in just 27 games with an OPS of .708.

The only bright spot has been the human pinball Harper, with an OPS of .982 and 11 home runs. But even Harper’s reckless style of play has caused him to miss a few games and has many worried about his safety.

Starters Zimmerman, Strasburg and Detwiler have been very good, despite the negative rumblings you may have heard about Strasburg (1.62, 2.83, and 2.76 ERAs respectively). But Gio Gonzalez has seen his control issues resurface after a career year last year. His ERA is 4.01 and has given up 24 walks in 50 1/3 innings, ballooning his WHIP to 1.219. And free agent signee Dan Haren has been abysmal in his nine starts this year, posting a 5.54 ERA with a WHIP of 1.430, mainly due to his 11.4 H/9. He’s already given up 10 home runs this year.

May 17, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (47) throws during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

As for the ‘pen, Tuesday night’s blown save aside, Soriano has been pretty good, putting up a 1.89 ERA with 12 saves and a 1.053 WHIP. But Drew Storen (4.67 ERA, 1.558 WHIP) and Mattheus (4.96 ERA, 1.531 WHIP) have given the Nats lots of problems in the middle and later innings.

So, the big question the Nationals have to answer is… was last year a fluke aided by multiple players having career years (LaRoche, Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson) or are they still a deep, dynamic team that is just off to a slow start?

Right now, the performance of the Nationals HAS to be more disappointing – and concerning – to Nats fans than the Phillies’ start is to Phils’ fans. There is WAY more talent in Washington than there is in Philadelphia. As such, expectations for the Nationals were sky high. Almost everyone had them in the World Series. Certainly everyone had them making the playoffs.

The Phils were afforded no such expectations.

The smart money says the Nats will turn it around soon, which means it would behoove the Phillies to start playing better if they want to stay in the NL playoff conversation.

There are not many things Nationals fans and Phillies fans have in common. But this year, there is one…

…a profound frustration and disappointment watching their teams’ offensive struggle for competency.