PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - After playing in a career low 115 games last year, a knee injury has limited Chase Utley to just batting practice so far this year, and there’s no telling when he will be back in action.

He’s dealing with a painful knee injury which is causing pain with virtually every move he makes.

From the information we have it appears that Utley is suffering from a problem called chondromalacia patella — it’s a big Latin word which basically means that the back of the kneecap, the cartilage area, is either chipped away or irritated.

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Right now they’re trying to treat it as simply as they can without being too invasive. Surgery is an option of last resort, but even that is not 100 percent effective. They would go in and try to smooth out that surface.  But right now, they’re looking at rest and anti-inflammatory medications. 

What they’re trying to do is calm it down and see if time will help. At this point, the Phillies are starting to run out of time and Chase Utley is not improving.

Reported by Medical Editor Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio