Chad Billingsley suffers setback with partial flexor tendon tear
LOS ANGELES -- The road to a return for Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley from Tommy John surgery has hit a road block.
Earlier this week Billingsley's rehab assignment was shut down.
An MRI Thursday revealed a partial tear of his flexor tendon. The MRI revealed no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), the team announced -- the ligament reliever Chris Withrow tore last month. He's since been moved to the 60-day DL.
Billingsley, however, is expected to meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in "the next couple of days."
"I think Bills is trying to talk to Dr. ElAttrache to, kind of, discuss further options,â Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "I don't know all the options. I don't know what they're thinking. I just know that, obviously, they had to shut his rehab down and the MRI wasn't great."
This is Billingsley's second setback since having Tommy John surgery in April of 2013.
Billingsley hoped to return to the Dodgers in July. He pitched 1.2 innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday. He gave up one earned run, walked two, and struck out two in the outing but two days later, during a bullpen session, it was determined his rehab needed to be shutdown.
World Cup fever: Yasiel Puig dons US jersey in clubhouse
Billingsley made just two starts last season.
Meanwhile, third baseman Juan Uribe will be headed out on a rehab assignment, Mattingly said.
When that is has yet to be determined.
Uribe, who's been on the DL since May 21 with a strained right hamstring, took early batting practice before the Dodgers opened their three-game series with the Diamondbacks Friday.
The Dodgers third baseman says he felt "good" following early BP.
Mattingly agrees.
"He swung the bat good," Mattingly said. "His main thing is when is he going to be able to play a few games. I know he still had to pass the base running-type stuff. He has to do the curves and the turns. We're still a few days away. We know that part of it."
Uribe missed five games with the injury in early May then returned for five games before re-aggravating the injury and headed to the DL.
In the 22 games Uribe has missed, the Dodgers have gone 11-11 heading into Friday.
