Chad Billingsley meets reporters today. More from Jon SooHoo here.
By Jon Weisman
Chad Billingsley is progressing so well in his recovery from Tommy John surgery that he needs to make an effort to pace himself, reports Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
… “My arm hasn’t felt this good in a few years. I feel like I have a whole new arm,” Billingsley said on reporting day for Spring Training. “They keep telling me, don’t throw 95 [mph] yet.”
“I think this is the dangerous time for him,” said manager Don Mattingly. “He’s going out there with the other guys and he can’t go to another level, trying to keep up with the Joneses.”
Billingsley said he’s thrown off a mound nine times, tossing only semi-fastballs in the low 80s (mph), and was up to 36 pitches on Friday. He speculated that he might add curveballs by the end of the month, then throw to live hitters in March. He hopes to move on to game situations by the end of March.
That would seem to put Billingsley ahead of the projected return of late May or June.
“Nobody knows when I can come back,” he said. “I just continue one week at a time.” …
More in Gurnick’s notebook, which also discusses the Dodgers’ fears about how they will do post-Australia. (Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. takes up this topic as well.)
And elsewhere, A.J. Ellis has cut Cracker Barrel breakfasts out of his diet as part of his attempt to get in better shape for the long haul, writes Dylan Hernandez of the Times.
oldbrooklynfan
It’s probably just me but Billz looks like Kershaw in these photos and video. He looks like he lost weight or maybe it’s just the beard.