Alex White Activated, Edgmer Escalona To 15-Day DL and Juan Nicasio To 60-Day DL

The Colorado Rockies did some housekeeping in preparation for Alex White's debut on Tuesday night. In order to activate White, the Rockies placed Edgmer Escalona on the 15-day disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain. Juan Nicasio was moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day list while he recovers from a broken neck.

Nicasio's move the 60-day is not unexpected, as it opens up a spot on the 40-man roster. Escalona's injury doesn't appear serious, but a trip to the disabled list isn't bad for him. White will be activated from the 60-day disabled list, having had a finger injury back in May.

Tuesday's game is scheduled to being at 6:40 p.m. MT. Get a ticket to the game if you still can. Don't you want to be there when Alex White makes his Colorado Rockies debut? It only happens once!

For more on the Rockies, visit Purple Row.

Alex White Set For Colorado Rockies Debut

After several rehab start for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, RHP Alex White will make his Colorado Rockies debut on Tuesday night. White, acquired from the Cleveland Indians as part of the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, began his professional career as the 15th overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, but his first pro season had to wait until 2010. He reached Double-A Akron that season and went 10-10 with a 2.45 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 26 appearances (25 starts).

The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder started the 2011 season with the Indians' Triple-A Columbus team and was 1-0 with a 1.90 ERA in four starts. At the end of April, White got the call to the show and made three starts for the Indians. He went six innings in each of his first two starts and allowed a total of five runs. Then in his third start, White came down with right middle finger soreness after the third inning.

White went on the disabled list and didn't resume throwing until shortly before he moved to Colorado. The Rockies opted to send him to Tulsa for his rehab assignment since Colorado Springs is not the place to do that for a young pitcher. After some trouble in his first start, White turned in solid performances after that. He will take over Jason Hammel's spot in the rotation, though no roster move has been announced yet to allow White on the roster.

White throws a two-seam fastball in the low-90s, but can reach 95. He also works with a splitter and a slider in his repertoire. The struggling Houston Astros would appear to give him a good opportunity for a nice debut, but baseball isn't that tidy.

The Astros will have Bud Norris (6-8, 3.61 ERA) on the mound to oppose the rookie. He's been all over the map in his August starts. Twice he has allowed three runs in five innings, games the Astros won. But the Brewers did strike for six runs against him in another start. He also threw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts against the Dodgers--only to see the Astros lose, 1-0. Norris is 15th in strikeouts per nine innings with 8.6, which could pose a problem for the Rockies in their first look at Norris.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MT.

For more on the Rockies, visit Purple Row. Check out Crawfish Boxes and SB Nation Houston for more.

Alex White To Make Rockies Debut On Tuesday Against Houston

Alex White will officially make his Colorado Rockies debut on the mound against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, August 23 according to the team’s official twitter feed.

White has been dominant in his rehab starts with the AA Tulsa Drillers, including a 7 2/3 inning shutout performance last Thursday. White allowed a three run homerun in his first inning of rehab work. Since then, he has thrown 15 1/3 shutout innings and only allowing seven hits in that span, six singles and a double. White was MLB ready when the Rockies acquired him from the Cleveland Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, and has only enhanced his case for the majors through these rehab starts.

To make room in the rotation, the Rockies have decided to move struggling right handed pitcher Jason Hammel to the bullpen. Hammel was the losing pitcher in the August 19 defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up six runs in less than three innings.

Alex White Spectacular In Final Tulsa Start; Next Stop, Denver?

In his fourth rehab start with the AA Tulsa Drillers, Colorado Rockies pitcher Alex White was nothing short of sensational.

Just a night after teammate (and fellow trade member) Drew Pomeranz threw seven innings of two hit shutout ball, White upped the ante with 7.2 innings of shutout baseball and only three hits allowed. White struck out four batters for the game before leaving in the eighth inning with the bases loaded. Tulsa ended up winning the game, 8-0.

Combined, the two top prospects threw 14.2 innings, allowed no runs, and struck out eight batters in their back-to-back starts.

With the victory, Alex White will now return to Denver where he will be reevaluated by the Rockies’ medical staff. If the team believes he is completely healed fromhis torn pulley tendon injury, White could find himself joining the Colorado Rockies rotation for his next start. One more rehab start in AAA Colorado Springs is another possibility, but White has made a very strong case that he is MLB ready right now.

Drew Pomeranz Finally Joins Colorado Rockies

Alex White Shines In Third Rehab Start With Tulsa Drillers

As one of the two main players received from the Cleveland Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, the Colorado Rockies are putting quite a bit of faith in Alex White’s future. So far, he’s proving their gamble worthwhile.

White shined in his third rehab start with the AA Tulsa Drillers, pitching four shutout innings and striking out three batters. Despite working under a 60-pitch limit, White was efficient for much of the game. He was perfect through the first three innings and even struck out the side in the third inning. White allowed two soft bloop hits in the fourth inning, but was able to escape unscathed.

With at least one more rehab start in AA, the Rockies can then reevaluate whether or not Alex White needs a brief stint in AAA Colorado Springs or if he can make his long awaited return to the major leagues and his Denver debut.

Alex White's Rehab Starts Puts Him Closer To The Majors

That's two rehab starts down and two more to go for Alex White, one of three pitchers acquired from the Cleveland Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. Still with the Tulsa Drillers, White was on a 45-pitch count in Monday's game and he was able to stretch that out to nearly four innings.

White threw a 1-2-3 inning to start the game and retired the first five batters before allowing a single in the second inning. A ground out after the hit stopped the Springfield Cardinals in their tracks. He struck out his first batter of the game in a 1-2-3 third inning. In the fourth inning, White allowed a single in between a fly out and a strikeout. At 44 pitches and 3-2/3 innings pitched, White left the game for Josh Sullivan. Tulsa went on to win the game, 12-4.

White is scheduled for two more starts with Tulsa. After that the Rockies will either send him to Colorado Springs for one final rehab start or he will move up to the big leagues with the Rockies.

Rockies Pitcher Alex White Gives Up HR in Tulsa Drillers Debut

Colorado Rockies top prospect Alex White — one of the top arms acquired via trade with the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Ubaldo Jimenez — underwent his first appearance as the newest member of the Rockies’ organization during a brief rehab start with the AA Tulsa Drillers.

On a limited pitch count, White forced a ground out and allowed two singles around a strikeout. With runners on first and second and two outs, AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Kansas City Royals affiliate) left fielder Paulo Orlando hit a 1-1 pitch over the fence for an early 3-0 lead. Orlando had been white hot his last 10 games with a .455 average and 1.271 OPS coming into tonight’s matchup.

White forced another groundout to end the inning. Despite the poor numbers, this is nothing to be concerned about regarding White’s long term success. This was his first game action since May 20, when he suffered a torn pulley tendon in his finger during his third career MLB start with the Cleveland Indians.

White is scheduled to throw another pitch count shortened start in three days, and then will be the full time starter for at least one more Drillers game. If these rehab starts show some promise, then White could easily make his Colorado Rockies debut in less than three weeks.

Rockies New Acquisition Alex White Debuts In Tulsa Tonight