From
David Wells:
Chase Utley needs to kiss the Yankee Stadium dirt tonight.
Enough is enough, already. I would never advocate throwing at somebody’s head, but there comes a time when you’ve got to make an insanely hot hitter like Utley squirm.
That is what I would have done Monday night if I were A.J. Burnett. What do you think Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale would have done?
They would have knocked Utley on his fanny at the start of the game.
You don’t want to give in and just say, “OK you’ve got me.” Hell, go out there with aggression, man. Go out there and get rough. Get mean. Show some guts and knock the guy on his butt.
Then he gives his advice on how to pitch to him:
After you knock down Utley, you’ve got to pitch him like he’s Babe Ruth. I kid you not, you have to. Because Utley is in the zone right now — a one-man wrecking crew.
Start pitching him away. Make him hit your pitch. If you’re going to come inside, you’ve got to come in deep, and if you want to get him out, you’ve got to get him down-and-away, up-and-away. Try to get him to hit a fly ball to left field.
...
Andy’s second pitch to Utley tonight should be a fastball away. I’m guessing you already know what the first pitch should be.
I completely agree, you don't have to hit him, but at least knock him down. Not only because Utley is hanging on top of the plate and killing the ball, but because as Wells points out in the article, the Phillies have also hit five Yankees while the Yankees have hit just one. "I don’t know if the hit batters were part of the Phillies’ game plan," Wells said. "But you know what? Retaliate."
