Just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, another shoe drops. Announced this morning, Chad Billingsley has been placed on the 15-day Disabled List due to elbow pain.
This is our 3rd starting pitcher to land on the DL for the Dodgers this month. Chris Capuano went down last week due to a strained left calf muscle, and Zack Greinke broke his collarbone in that little scuffle against the Padres.
As I'm sure you'll recall, the Dodgers kept a overfilled stable of starting pitchers this past Spring, as questions about health struck management as a concern. Well, I guess that fear was not unfounded. Considering the situation, I guess we shouldn't have traded Harang, eh?
Chad Billingsley has had the specter of Tommy John surgery hanging over his head all winter long, and it looks like it has decided to rear its ugly head again. If the elbow pain continues, I suspect he'll be done for the season.
Billingsley contract extends til the end of the 2014 season, and there is a team option for 2015. If he has surgery soon then I wouldn't expect to see him pitch again until next season, and he wouldn't likely be himself until 2015. That being said, we may have seen the last of him as a decent starting pitcher in Dodger Blue.
Coming up from Albuquerque will be Stephen Fife. From the Dodgers press release:
In 2012, Fife made five starts with the Dodgers, going 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA (8 ER/26.2 IP) and a .255 opponents' batting average. In three starts with the Isotopes this season, the 26-year-old is 1-1 with a 4.61 ERA (7 ER/13.2 IP) and 14 strikeouts.Fife pitched well this past spring, going 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA. He pitched 26.2 innings, struck out 20 and had a ERA+ of 143.
Photo Credit Above: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013:
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