Chase over?

The Phils received a crippling blow when Chase Utley was hit by a pitch and suffered a broken finger, sidelining him for 3-6 weeks. Philadelphia probably would have struggled to stay in the playoff hunt anyway because of its pitching, but this could hasten the fall.

If the Phillies were to make the playoffs, it would be unprecidented from the standpoint that no NL team has qualified for the postseason with a pitching staff that ranked worse than 11th in ERA, at least going back to 1996. Philadelphia is last this year.

Here is a look at the playoff qualifiers with their offense/pitching ranks. Interesting that the No. 1 offense made the playoffs only 5 times while the No. 1 pitching made it 10 times:

2007 (as of today)
NYM 9/3; Mil 4/8; LA 7/5; SD 14/1

2006
Mets 3/3; StL 6/9; SD 14/1; LA 4/4

2005
Atl 4/6; StL 3/1; SD 13/7; Hou 11/2

2004
Atl 5/1; StL 1/2; LA 9/4; Hou 6/6

2003
Atl 1/9; Chi 9/3; SF 6/2; Fla 8/7

2002
Atl 8/1; StL 2/4; Ariz 1/6; SF 3/2

2001
Atl 13/1; Hou 2/10; Ari 3/2; StL 4/3

2000
Atl 6/1; StL 4/7; SF 3/4; NYM 7/3

1999
Atl 6/1; Hou 8/3; Ariz 1/2; NYM 5/5

1998
Atl 3/1; Hou 1/2; SD 8/3; Chi 4/11

1997
Atl 3/1; Hou 5/3; SF 4/9; Fla 8/4

1996
Atl 4/2; StL 7/6; SD 6/3; LA 12/1