Chad Billingsley to receive PRP injection Wednesday

LOS ANGELES -- Chad Billingsley will receive an injection of platelet-rich plasma into his right elbow on Wednesday and hopes to resume throwing next week when the Dodgers are on the road.

Billingsley was shut down last week after feeling discomfort during a bullpen session in San Francisco, and MRI results showed he had tendonitis in his right elbow. He was relieved the news wasn't worse.

"I wasn't really too worried about it. I didn't feel the same things I felt the previous times when I tore my UCL. Something was wrong though. I couldn't throw hard," Billingsley said. "The rehab was going so great, I guess I couldn't escape without something going wrong. Thank goodness it wasn't serious."

Billingsley had PRP injections in 2012 after partially tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. He tried to make a comeback without surgery but that lasted all of two starts in 2013 before having the Tommy John procedure in April. He has pitched in one minor league game on a rehab assignment but left in the second inning with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on April 6 after feeling discomfort.

The Dodgers begin a nine-game road trip on Tuesday in Minnesota, a journey that will also take the team to Miami and Washington. Billingsley will make the trip, and said he will be cleared to resume his throwing program, which at first will consist of light catch, once the discomfort in his elbow goes away.

"Once that starts, hopefully I'll be able to progress quickly," he said.

Notes

Clayton Kershaw threw a bullpen session on Tuesday, which A.J. Ellis and manager Don Mattingly even standing in for a few pitches. Kershaw remains on track for a possible Friday rehab start, though nothing has yet been announced.

Andre Ethier, 3-for-7 with a walk against Phillies starter A.J. Burnett, is sitting tonight because he is sick. "It's just been four or five days of the same stuff," Ethier said. Mattingly said Ethier felt so bad he was unavailable on Monday, but might be available to play Tuesday night if needed.

An error charged to Hanley Ramirez in the sixth inning on April 13 in Arizona has been changed by MLB to a single for Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings.

Alex Guerrero was 3-for-3 with two triples on Tuesday and is 14-for-30 (.467) with seven extra-base hits in nine games with Triple-A Albuquerque. "He's swinging the bat good," Mattingly said. "The main thing is to keep playing defensively. It's part of learning a new position. That kind of stuff doesn't happen overnight. He's played eight games [before Tuesday]."