FITTING THE BILL-INGSLEY: PITCHER STAYS HUMBLE BILLINGSLEY IGNORES HYPE AND EXPECTATIONS.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Chad Billingsley knows his place on the Dodgers radar, that being their top pick in the 2003 draft, their top pitching prospect and their two-time reigning minor league pitcher of the year. He also knows his place in the Dodgers clubhouse this spring, that being the row of lockers in the corner by the door with all the other rookies who speak to the veterans only when the veterans speak to them.

The line between confidence and cockiness is razor-thin, but Billingsley walks it about as well as he pitches. And at the age of 21, less than three years removed from the only public high school in tiny Defiance, Ohio, Billingsley pitches pretty darn well.

``For me, he's ready to pitch in the major leagues right now,'' said Ken Howell, Billingsley's pitching coach last season at Double-A Jacksonville.

In an organization where the once-hyped Edwin Jackson became a victim of his own early success, washed out and eventually had to be traded to Tampa Bay, and where the once-hyped Greg Miller became a victim of shoulder problems and now appears destined to a career in middle relief, club officials know there are no guarantees with the presently hyped Billingsley. But Billingsley knows that, too, which is why he isn't conducting himself any differently this spring than he did in any of his two previous springs with the organization, when he dressed in the cramped and decidedly more rustic digs over on the minor-league side.

And that is one of his strongest assets. That and his fastball, curveball, slider and recently revived changeup.

``I kind of ignore all the things that get written about me,'' he said. ``I don't want to get wrapped up in it, even though sometimes it's fun to read it just to see what they say. I might pick up a Baseball America once in a while, but it's usually because there are a couple other guys from my high school who are in pro ball, and I want to see how they are doing.''

Here is how Billingsley is doing: last year, his first full season at Double-A, he rebounded from an inconsistent first half to finish 13-6 with a 3.51 ERA and help the Suns run away with the Southern League title. In 2 1/2 minor-league seasons, he is 29-14 with a 3.01 earned run average and has struck out 382 batters in 334 1/3 innings in 65 games.

In short, he has pitched at least a level above the hitters he has faced at every stop.

``I think the biggest thing for him is that from day one, this kid has been on a mission,'' said Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, who was the organization's minor-league pitching coordinator the past four seasons. ``He has prepared himself to be a major-league pitcher. He's very mature and has a great work ethic. He expects to be the best.

``In his mind, he doesn't just want to get to the major leagues. He's already thinking about competing with the best pitchers in the game once he gets there.''

Billingsley's first big chance will come this spring, when he will compete with the newly acquired Jae Seo for the fifth spot in the Dodgers' season-opening, starting rotation. While that competition also includes veteran and former All-Star Aaron Sele, who is in camp on a minor-league deal, and while Billingsley's fate probably rests as much on the performances of Seo and Sele as it does on his own, the fact a pitcher without so much as a day in Triple-A is being given such an opportunity speaks volumes as to how he is viewed.

Although new general manager Ned Colletti would never say it publicly, there are whispers he already has labeled Billingsley an untouchable when it comes to trade talks, this without having seen him throw a pitch. Even if he doesn't make the big club out of camp - and he probably won't - Billingsley will go to Triple-A Las Vegas, where Howell is moving up with him this season.

But given the injury rate of pitchers, there is a strong chance Billingsley will take the mound at Dodger Stadium sometime this summer.

Not that he has given that much thought.

``I don't really think about it too much,'' he said. ``I don't get involved in the business side of things. I just want to do the best I can, because I believe that if you do well, you will get rewarded for it.''

A conversation with Billingsley offers little hint that he is a professional athlete, much less one whose future probably includes countless millions of dollars to go with the $1.375 million the Dodgers paid him when they signed him. When talking baseball, he speaks so rapidly and excitedly that he occasionally gets tongue-tied, hinting at a love for the game that has nothing to do with salaries or signing bonuses or roster status.

It was a return to that innocence that allowed him to reverse course midway through last season, when for the first time in his life he actually struggled.

``I didn't really make any mechanical changes,'' he said. ``I just think I might have been thinking too much. This game is supposed to be fun. If you approach this game like it's a job, then that's what it becomes. I just tried to approach it like I had always approached it when I was younger. After that, my whole season turned around. I think I gave up two or three runs in my next 30-some innings.''

Much of Billingsley's grounding comes from his smalltown upbringing, and the unique inspiration of his father, Jim, who suffered a massive stroke a few years ago. Initially wheelchair-bound, Jim worked his way to a walker, then a cane and, finally, to the slight limp with which he now walks. Jim and Diane, Billingsley's mother, now travel to all their son's games and are here in spring training.

``My dad taught me everything I know,'' Billingsley said. ``He never played baseball, but as I was growing up and starting to play, he bought all these books and researched the game so much. He worked the third shift, then would come home and sleep until I got home from school at 3, then we would go throw. He is such a great role model for me, and the same with my mom.''

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Pitcher Chad Billingsley loosens up in his first workout with the Dodgers at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., on Wednesday.

(2) Dodgers special adviser Tommy Lasorda greets Chad Billingsley, as the rookie makes his way to his corner locker in the clubhouse.

Jon Soo Hoo/Los Angeles Dodgers