I wrote just a few days ago that Juan Nicasio was making his major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals. But what I didn't know at the time was that Bruce Billings, the Dust Devils ace who led the Northwest League in strikeouts in 2007, also made his big league debut two days before against the Redbirds.

Nicasio, in case you didn't see it, was masterful in a 15-4 home win over St. Louis (see Jim Armstrong's gamer from the Denver post here). He did have quite a bit of run support — his Cardinals counterpart, Jaime Garcia, handed him a 6-0 lead in the first inning — but it's still impressive to have the type of command he had against the perennial Central division power.

Billings didn't get the start. He tossed the final two innings of a 10-3 loss, allowing a run on five hits. Actually, compared to the other Rockies pitchers that day, Billings put up the best numbers. But just making that first appearance had to be an incredible feeling. Especially when he got two-time National League MVP Albert Pujols to ground into a double play to end the eighth.

I wonder if he was bummed when he didn't get to bat in the ninth?

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Aneury Rodriguez, who was the Dust Devils No. 2 starter in 2006. He's now with the Houston Astros after they took him in the Rule 5 draft from Tampa Bay in December. Rodriguez pitched well enough to earn a spot in the Astros rotation out of spring training, but they decided to give him a little more time to develop.

Apparently, that time is now. After making a month's worth of relief appearances in April, Rodriguez was pegged to make his first start against Cincinnati on May 4. Well, he nailed it.

So there you go. Three more former Dust Devils hit the big time in just the last month. Imagine how many more we'll see by the end of the season.

And there's plenty more where that came from.