Dodgers honor LaRoche, Billingsley

SAN DIEGO -- Third baseman Andy LaRoche, who split the season between Class A Vero Beach and Double-A Jacksonville, and Jacksonville right-hander Chad Billingsley have been named Branch Rickey Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, according to Dodgers director of player development Terry Collins.

Billingsley is a repeat winner as he also was chosen the Dodgers' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2004.

In 127 games for Vero Beach and Jacksonville, the right-handed hitting LaRoche batted .305 (145-for-476) with 30 home runs, 26 doubles, 94 RBIs and 95 runs scored. With Vero Beach, he tore up the Florida State League, batting .333 and collecting 21 homers, 14 doubles, a triple, 51 RBIs and 54 runs in 63 games.

In 64 regular-season contests for eventual Southern League champion Jacksonville, he batted at a .273 clip with nine homers, 12 doubles, 43 RBIs and 41 runs scored.

Billingsley, the Dodgers' No. 1 pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft out of Defiance (Ohio) High School, made 26 starts and two relief appearances for Jacksonville and was 13-6 with a 3.51 ERA. In 146 innings, he allowed 116 hits and 50 walks while recording 162 strikeouts, which ranked second in the Southern League. His 13 wins were third-best.