When good pitchers go bad: the Chad Billingsley story

Chad Billingsley rarely speaks above a whisper in the best of times.

And clearly these are not the best of times.

Through the first 2 1/2 months of the season, the Dodgers right-hander was arguably the best pitcher in the National League, going 9-3 with a 2.72 earned-run average to earn a spot on the All-Star team.

In the three months since, he hasn't even been the best pitcher on his team, going 3-7 with a 5.40 ERA.

"I'm just trying to go out there and work on things," Billingsley says quietly, speaking to his shoes as he ties the laces. "Figure something out."

He's not alone. Because while it's clear something's wrong with Billingsley, no one seems sure what it is.

Says Rick Honeycutt, his pitching coach: "He's just missing a little bit. He still, at times, looks the same."

Says Joe Torre, his manager: "He's just rushing himself."

But perhaps the best explanation comes from teammate Randy Wolf, who has the locker next to Billingsley's.

"Things," Wolf says, "happen weird in a season."

Of course, spotting weird is a lot easier than curing it. Especially when there are at least three prevailing theories for what has caused Billingsley's year to go weird.

It's physical: Billingsley was pitching well in his first two August starts, but he had to leave early both times, the first because of a cramping right hamstring and the second because of a strained left hamstring. He missed one start and came back to beat St. Louis, but has gone 0-4 with a 5.96 ERA since.

"The one thing that can really affect guys is a leg problem," Wolf says. "His hamstring bothered him and he wanted to get back out there in a hurry. Subconsciously, without even knowing it, a guy will pull back a little bit, maybe shorten his stride.

"I think that's probably the biggest thing."

It's mental: Billingsley himself is leaning toward this diagnosis, saying it's becoming harder and harder to let each poor performance go.

"I don't think he's got the same swagger that he's had before," says one National League scout, who is prohibited by his club from speaking about opposing players on the record. "I've heard the [hamstring]. I've heard when the foot lands one way it does this. There's a lot of theories there.

"I think it's confidence."

It's just bad luck: Since mid-June, Billingsley's walks and strikeouts are way down, which means more balls are being put into play. Unfortunately for him, few of those balls are being turned into outs, with opponents hitting better than .330 against him on balls in play since early July.