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.
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