Dodgers righty Chad Billingsley will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, announced the team, with the standard expected recovery time of one year. Elbow pain first surfaced for Billingsley in mid-July of last year. He had platelet-rich plasma injections in August and September and tried to rehab the injury, but Tommy John surgery was looming as a possibility. The 28-year-old made a pair of big league starts this year before the elbow problem resurfaced.
Billingsley will earn $12MM in 2014, the last guaranteed year of his contract. After 2014, the Dodgers will choose between a $3MM buyout and a $14MM club option for 2015.
Billingsley joined Dodgers starters Zack Greinke (broken collarbone) and Chris Capuano (strained calf) on the DL two days ago. Greinke's collarbone was broken when the Padres' Carlos Quentin charged the mound on April 11th, with Capuano worsening his own injury by sprinting toward the fracas. The Dodgers' rotation will welcome Ted Lilly tomorrow, with Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Beckett, and Stephen Fife comprising the other four and Aaron Harang now pitching for the Mariners.
