LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed right-hander Chad Billingsley on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation (retroactive to July 8) and recalled right-hander Stephen Fife from Triple-A Albuquerque to make tonight’s start against the Phillies. Billingsley was 4-9 with a 4.30 ERA in 18 starts this season and is eligible to return from the DL on July 23.
Fife, who will wear No. 56, is set to make his Major League debut tonight and has gone 7-5 with a 4.53 ERA in 18 starts with Triple-A Albuquerque this season. The 25-year-old has turned it on in his last eight starts and is 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA (14 ER/45.1 IP) since May 30, the fifth-lowest ERA in the Pacific Coast League in that span. Fife last pitched on July 6 against Round Rock (Rangers), allowing just two hits in 7.0 scoreless innings in the Isotopes’ 10-1 win. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder was acquired by the Dodgers in a four-player trade with Boston at the 2011 trade deadline and was originally selected by Boston in the third round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.
