Bad break for Dodgers' Billingsley
Sports Network | November 23, 2008
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Young Dodgers ace Chad Billingsley suffered a broken left fibula Friday after slipping on a patch of ice outside of his home in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The 24-year-old sustained a spiral fracture of the fibula and underwent surgery on Saturday that will keep his left leg -- his landing leg when he pitches -- in a cast for two weeks.
The Dodgers fully expect Billingsley to be ready for spring training and the start of the 2009 season.
The 24th overall pick of the 2003 Draft had the best season of his brief three-year career for the NL West Champions in 2008, going 16-10 with a 3.14 earned-run average and 201 strikeouts in 200 2/3 innings, which included a 7-1 record in his final 12 starts.
The Dodgers will already start next season without pitchers Derek Lowe, Brad Penny and Greg Maddux, who have each departed through free agency.
