Las Vegas 51s pitcher Chad Billingsley has long been on the radar of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and should soon be receiving his chance at pitching for the big club. Billingsley has been a top flight prospect since the Dodgers selected him with the 24th overall pick in the first round in 2003. ?It was a great experience for me,? said Billingsley, who was just finishing up his high school state playoffs at the time. ?It was a nerve-racking time and I was trying to not pay attention to it because I had an offer from South Carolina.? Billingsley never made it to South Carolina, as he said the Dodgers hit the number he was looking for, and subsequently went straight from Defiance High School in Defiance, Ohio, straight to the Dodgers organization. ?Three years later, I?m in Triple-A and knocking on the door of the major leagues,? Billingsley said to me during an interview on Tuesday. Still, Billingsley still keeps a close eye on the draft because of players he has played with who are now being drafted because this would have been his draft year. One such player is right handed pitcher Ian Kennedy of USC, who was selected by the New York Yankees in the first round. However, his main focus is making it up to Los Angeles, and thus far, he is taking on a rapid pace of getting there. Only 21, Billingsley has had success at each level of the organization, especially at Double-A Jacksonville, where the team was named team of the year in 2005 by Baseball America. Billingsley also has won organizational pitching awards at every stop in the organization. Billingsley said that one of his best minor league experiences was on that Jacksonville team and when he and Jonathan Broxton combined for a no-hitter during the Southern League playoffs. He also was able to attend the big league camp during spring training, where he was greeted by many of the veterans. ?It was unbelievable,? Billingsley said. ?A lot of the veteran players, like Nomar, Kenny Lofton, and Sandy Alomar made us feel welcomed.? His rapid development isn?t lost on his manager, Jerry Royster, who said that he isn?t afraid to venture away from his comfort zone and work on the things they will be necessary to stay with the big club. This season, Billingsley is 5-3 with a 3.97 ERA. He also has struck out 72 batters in 65.2 innings. The statistic of having have a K/IP higher than 9 is not an exception, but a trend, as he has done it at Class A Vero Beach, Double-A Jacksonville, and now in Triple-A Las Vegas.