The possibility of Tommy John surgery is dimming for Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley, who was shut down for the season Sept. 5 with tearing in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right (pitching) elbow.
Billingsley said he’s been doing daily forearm exercises without pain as part of his weightlifting routine for the last week. He will travel with the Dodgers on their upcoming road trip to Washington and Cincinnati starting Monday and, if he stays healthy, will start playing light catch in Cincinnati on Friday –four weeks from the time of his UCL injury.
“I’ll do that for a week or so,” Billingsley said. “If everything goes well with that, it’ll be a throwing program. If that goes well, I’ll be throwing to live hitters by mid-October.”
Billingsley said it’s to soon to know where he’ll face live hitters.
“It depends on where we are,” he said.