Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley Suffers Accident, Undergoes Surgery

I got a tip this afternoon from Highlands Today sports editor Brian Gjurgevich that was one of those things I couldn’t believe. But it turns out it was true.

I checked with Josh Rawitch of the Dodgers, and he confirms:

We have received word that Chad Billingsley slipped (on ice) down stairs outside his house and fell in Reading, PA and suffered a spiral fracture of the fibula in his left leg. He had surgery today to put a plate in and he will be in a cast for two weeks which will allow the fracture to heal.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Paul Neuman, an orthopedic surgeon in Reading, and went as expected. By all indications, it is believed that he will be ready to throw bullpens by the beginning of Spring Training. While this obviously isn’t good news, the timing of the injury is not bad given that it we do not expect it will affect his readiness for 2009.

Gjurgevich had a contact whose son was in the hospital at the same time as Billingsley.