Chase Utley has yet to comment on the league's decision to rescind the two-game suspension he received for breaking Ruben Tejada's leg with an aggressive slide in the NLDS, but that didn't stop his agent from leaping to his defense Sunday.
"It's unfortunate that Chase got demonized by all of this," Utley's agent, Joel Wolfe, told the Los Angeles Times. "He has never intended to hurt another player. He's taken great pride in always playing the game the right way and giving maximum effort every time he steps on the field. MLB determined this was a clean play within the rules, an acceptable play, and a hearing wasn't necessary."
Related: Dodgers' Utley won't serve suspension for NLDS slide
Utley, who is expected to address the matter Monday, was initially suspended for what the league deemed an "illegal slide" - by appealing the suspension, he was able to play out the postseason and defer his two-game ban to 2016 - but chief baseball officer Joe Torre admitted Utley didn't do anything that violated any explicit rule.
"I think it would have been an issue," Torre said. "There wasn't anything clear-cut to say that play violated a rule."
Things will be different moving forward, though. Last month, the league redefined what constitutes an appropriate slide, establishing new rules designed to eliminate incidents like the one in Game 2 of the NLDS, which sidelined Tejada for the remainder of the postseason.
"What's important is that we have a rule and have given these guidelines," said Torre.
