Should The Los Angeles Dodgers Be Concerned With Chad Billingsley?

There are a lot of great pitchers in the game today who are 25 years old and younger. Tim Lincecum, Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez and Chad Billingsley come to mind. What is amazing is that at such a young age, all these pitchers are considered the ace of their respective staffs. With so much responsibility put on their shoulders (literally), it’s not uncommon for young pitchers to go through a slump during the course of the long baseball season. That is exactly what I think is happening to Los Angeles Dodgers’ ace Chad Billingsley. Billingsley was roughed up again last night. This time it was by the St Louis Cardinals. Billingsley gave up six runs, an uncharacteristic six walks, and four hits in 5 2/3 innings of work last night. What made this game frustrating for Dodgers’ fans is that Billingsley was cruising for five innings. For whatever reason, Billingsley imploded in the sixth inning—four walks (two were intentional), two wild pitches, three hits, and s...