• Chad Billingsley, who tried his darnedest not to need Tommy John surgery, will now, in fact, need Tommy John surgery. The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was originally injured last August and tried to rehab his partially torn elbow ligament without the full Tommy John treatment. He managed to pitch two games this season, but re-aggravated the elbow along the way.
He's now lost for a year, joining Zack Greinke and Chris Capuano as Dodgers pitchers on the disabled list. Stephen Fife already replaced Billingsley, starting for the Dodgers on Sunday. He didn't get the win, but the Dodgers won the game.
• Prized young Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy will see Dr. James Andrews for another opinion on the arm injury that's kept him sidelined since March. While Dr. Andrews is famous for Tommy John surgeries, the Orioles are saying Bundy's injury is "flexor mass tightness" — related to his forearm, not his elbow.
Bundy already had an MRI on his elbow and it came back clear. But you can bet every set of fingers in the Orioles front office is crossed hoping that Dr. Andrews doesn't even say the word "Tommy." Bundy threw from flat ground on Monday and still didn't feel right, reports Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Bundy, 20, is not only considered the Orioles top pitching prospect, but the top pitching prospect in all of baseball.
• Relief pitcher Octavio Dotel has officially landed on the disabled list for the Detroit Tigers. He's got right elbow inflammation and will be on the shelf for at least 15 days. That's motive for the more interesting half of this move: to fill his spot, the Tigers have called up Bruce Rondon, the 100-mph throwing rookie reliever. He was supposed to be the Tigers closer before a rough spring landed him in Triple-A.
While the Tigers don't have a confirmed closer — three different pitchers have saved games so far this year — Rondon (pictured) isn't being handed that job. Not yet at least.
• In not-elbow-but-kinda-elbow news: Joakim Soria, signed in the offseason by the Texas Rangers, won't be back at the end of May as expected. Instead, Soria will be out until at least July 1. He's recovering from Tommy John surgery, but this setback isn't related to his elbow. He strained his pectoral muscle. The Rangers say his surgically repaired elbow is fine.
Baseball is back. Don't miss anything.
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