Ted Green: Chad Billingsley is plagued by an ace-killing disease

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Their 24-year-old so-called staff ace from Ohio has a plus arm and made the All-Star team this year.

Their 21-year-old from Oklahoma is an Ace in Waiting, but still too young to be counted on to front a pitching staff in the pressure of postseason.

And their 33-year-old lefty from the west San Fernando Valley is the de facto No. 1 right now -- their best, hottest and most dependable pitcher.

But after Wednesday night, the verdict is in. It’s now painfully obvious the Dodgers are like a deck with 48 cards.

They don’t have any aces.

Chad Billingsley is now plagued with One Bad Inning disease. He was rolling Wednesday, mowing the first 13 D-Backs until -- oops, there it is -- another 25-minute meltdown, a four-run Arizona fifth inning, and thanks for coming.

I don’t know if it’s his playoff failures of last October, his seven-plus postseason ERA, the respect he lost in the Dodger clubhouse when he didn’t protect his hitters against the Phils in the NLCS, or whether he’s actually just a No. 3 or 4 masquerading as a No. 1 on a team that doesn’t have a real one.

But whatever it is, unless Clayton Kershaw or Randy Wolf can be the guy, the Dodgers now face the distinct psychological disadvantage of having no Cole Hamels or Cliff Lee, like the Phils do, no Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright, like the Cardinals do, and no Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain, like the Giants do.

Maybe their acelessness will mean nothing if the hitters light it up in October, but based on this one glaring hole in their otherwise loaded roster, one being the loneliest number, as Three Dog Night sang, the Dodgers cannot be forecast as anything better than the No. 3 horse in the National League behind the Phillies and Cards.

You know, the Cards that have aces.
-- Ted Green

Green formerly covered sports for the L.A. Times. He is currently senior sports producer for KTLA Prime News.