With right-hander Chad Billingsley likely to come off the DL and make his 2013 debut in San Diego against the Padres on Wednesday evening, the pitching logjam that has besieged the Dodgers all winter long will finally come to a head. In other words, somebody has to go.

Billingsley said that his injured index finger didn’t affect his ability to throw a curveball during his rehab assignment on Thursday night.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

It’s a pretty safe assumption that Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, and Beckett aren’t going anywhere, so where do the Dodgers plug Billingsley into the 25-man roster? With both Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang exiled to the bullpen, the obvious choice is young left-hander Paco Rodriguez. Although Rodriguez retired the side in order against the Giants in his 2013 debut on Tuesday night and struck out the only batter he faced on Friday night on three pitches, he still has options, whereas Capuano and Harang do not. Capuano or Harang have yet to make an appearance this season, this in spite of the fact that both of them warmed up in the bullpen late Wednesday night in the series finale against the Giants.

Once the Dodgers signed Hyun-jin Ryu and Zack Greinke during the off-season, the writing was on the wall for Capuano and Harang. Of course their poor performances during spring training didn’t help matters either.
(Photo credit Ron Cervenka)

“Those guys have to get their work (in),” said Dodger manager Don Mattingly prior to Friday night’s game. “Aaron and I actually talked about it today, figuring out when to throw, either after the game or late in the game. We talked about getting him and Rick (Honeycutt) together trying to work.

“It’s tough right now with Aaron,” added Mattingly. “I think (Capuano) is a little more used to (working out of the bullpen). These guys have their own routine. Now (Harang) asks ‘When do I lift (weights)? How much running do I do? How do I get my program together?’ You’ve got to figure out your program and when to throw is a part of that. You can’t throw at the beginning of the day and go throw a regular bullpen because you could be in there that night. He understands our situation but that doesn’t mean that he’s thrilled about it.”

Capuano and Harang are both in the second year of a two-year contract with the Dodgers to the tune of $6 million and $7 million respectively.

The good news is that Ted Lilly’s disastrous rehab outing with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Friday night (well, good unless you’re Ted Lilly, that is) all but guarantees that he will not be returning to the Dodgers’ 25-man roster anytime soon, so phase two of the pitching logjam has been temporarily avoided – but that day will come, too.

Of course the Dodgers could always designate perpetually struggling infielder Juan Uribe for assignment to free up a roster spot, but I’m guessing that Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti still isn’t convinced that his three-year / $21 million Uribe experiment is a complete failure (he’s the only one) and he will continue to try to prove that his decision to sign Uribe was a good one – even if it kills us.

Stay tuned…