Alex White

Days after he was told he had made the Astros' 25-man roster, White suffered an elbow injury during a spring training game that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery in April. The 25-year-old right-hander missed the entire 2013 season, along with a big window of opportunity to earn and lock down a spot in the weak Houston rotation. Unfortunately for White, that window is probably closed now with young arms like Mark Appel, Asher Wojciechowski and Mike Foltynewicz inching closer to the big leagues. White will likely miss time this season as well as he continues his rehabilitation process, but he could be a sleeper candidate to shift into the bullpen and provide an internal solution in the Astros' ongoing search for a ninth-inning option.

In a season that saw many of the team’s young starting pitchers get regularly slaughtered, White was perhaps the worst offender during his time with the Rockies, exhibiting a sky-high walk rate (4.7 BB/9) and serving up long balls with regularity (13 in 98 innings). Even more troubling was the fact that White, just 24, noticed a dip in his fastball by a full mile per hour from the season before, despite having most of his starts coming with a 75-pitch limit specifically imposed to prevent against arm fatigue. White’s general lack of success at the highest level is nothing new for young pitchers, but the drastic jump in his walk rate raises some concern about his viability as a major league starter. The Rockies traded him to Houston for Wilton Lopez in December, where White will get a chance to turn things around without having to deal with pitching half of his games in an extreme hitters' park.

White was uncharacteristically wild (4.38 BB/9IP) last season and extremely vulnerable to the long ball (2.63 HR/9IP) in his 51.1 big league innings. He's only 23 and as a prospect who moved quickly through the Indians' system, growing pains were to be expected. Perhaps visions of former prospect Adam Miller led the Indians to include White in the deal that sent Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland, but he lost nearly three months to a strained ligament in his right index finger, and there's reason to believe that the injury may have been partially to blame for his disastrous results in August and September. With only four Triple-A starts under his belt, it's possible that White will open the year at Colorado Springs if he's unable to secure a rotation spot out of spring training.

White advanced to Double-A Akron in his full-season debut and did very well as a 21-year-old. He features a nice sinking fastball and a split-finger but needs to add a third pitch to his arsenal. If he can't develop an offspeed pitch he could always be groomed as a future closer, but for now the Indians are hopeful he'll be able to handle starting duties with the addition of a third pitch. He could struggle at Triple-A with just a two-pitch arsenal so developing that third pitch is the key to his development. He'll spend most of the year at Triple-A Columbus, but may get a taste of Cleveland at some point after the All-Star break.

White was the team's first-round pick in the June draft, but signed late enough to push back his pro debut to this season. He features a power fastball/splitter arsenal and some see his future as a late-inning bullpen arm, but the Indians will try him as a starter initially. He does have some command and mechanical issues to overcome but he'll start the season in the rotation at High-A Kinston.