Now it sounds like Chad Billingsley is done for the year

One day he’s a starter, the next a possible reliever -- the next done for the year?

One day after saying he hoped Chad Billingsley might at least be able to return this season as a reliever, Manager Don Mattingly talked as if he didn’t expect his right-hander back this year.

“He just runs out of time,” Mattingly said. “His chances are pretty far down the line.

“It kind of seems like it’s going down the tubes.”

Billingsley is on the disabled list for a second time with a sore elbow. He last pitched on Aug. 24. He has not been throwing, but has remained hopeful of returning this season. He had a platelet rich plasma injection to promote healing on Thursday and said there was discussion of a possible second injection this week.

Losing Billingsley is another blow to the team’s stretch drive. Billingsley was throwing some of the best baseball of his career (6-0, 1.80 ERA) after coming off the DL the first time, and finally had given Mattingly a legitimate No. 2 starter.

The Dodgers added right-hander Josh Beckett to the rotation in the blockbuster trade for Adrian Gonzalez on Aug. 25.

If the team is considering Billingsley for Tommy John surgery, they’re not currently discussing it.

“We’re not talking about surgery or anything at this point,” Mattingly said.

Dodgers Chief Executive Stan Kasten told a fan gathering at a Los Angeles Times event on Thursday he feared Billingsley was done for the year.

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