Major League Baseball

White heading to Double-A on rehab assignment

Published Aug. 2, 2011 10:14 p.m. ET

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Alex White made it clear he isn't worried about being the next Ubaldo Jimenez. After all, he was part of an ensemble acquired for the former Colorado Rockies ace.

''It wasn't just me that got traded for him, there were some other really good players,'' White said. ''We got three more pretty good players, pretty good people.''

White was acquired by the Rockies from Cleveland for Jimenez on Saturday. Colorado also received right-hander Joe Gardner, first baseman Matt McBride and a player to be named, expected to be lefty Drew Pomeranz.

White and Pomeranz were considered the top two pitching prospects in Cleveland's organization. They were Cleveland's No. 1 draft picks in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

White made a brief appearance in Denver on Tuesday before heading to Double-A Tulsa for a rehab assignment, which could come as early as Thursday. He is working his way back from a torn tendon in his pitching hand and has been on the 15-day disabled list since May 21.

White was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts with the Indians before tearing the tendon while throwing a slider in his last start on May 20.

''He has almost the exact same injury that we had with (pitcher) Jorge (De La Rosa) last year,'' Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. ''A flexor tendon pulley.''

White said he will see how his injury reacts before he can think about joining the Rockies' rotation.

''We'll kind of seeing how it responds,'' he said. ''I'll start with 25 pitches and each time out I do a little more. As long as it responds well we'll keep going.''

Once he's healthy he said he won't put pressure on himself to replace Jimenez, who won a franchise-record 19 games last year and was the starting pitcher of the NL in the 2010 All Star Game.

''I'm not trying to fill anybody's shoes, I'm coming in and being my own person, my own player, and I hope one day I can be as good as him or better,'' he said. ''I don't think there's any pressure.''

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