Astros View Colton Gordon As Part Of Their Future Rotation
While Astros general manager Dana Brown tried to fortify the defending World Series champions at the Aug. 2 trade deadline, several prospective trade partners expressed interest in Double-A Corpus Christi lefthander Colton Gordon.
The Astros ultimately sent two of their best outfield prospects to the Mets for Justin Verlander after trading catcher Korey Lee to the White Sox for reliever Kendall Graveman.
“Gordon’s a pretty good arm, a lefthanded arm action,” Brown said.
The 24-year-old Gordon recorded a 3.95 ERA through 20 games, 18 of them starts, for the Hooks. He struck out 121 and walked 36 in 93.1 innings.
He gave up just six earned runs over 24 innings in July, striking out 37 with eight walks and a .174 opponent average.
It might be unrealistic to expect Gordon to reach the majors this season, but the Astros aren’t completely ruling it out.
“I’m not sure if he would be getting called up this year, maybe if we needed a lefthander out of the bullpen,” Brown said. “He’s a starter. And the only option would be if we broke him into the big leagues out of the pen as a lefthanded reliever.
“Right now he’s starter depth for us for the future.”
The Astros drafted Gordon in the eighth round in 2021 out of Central Florida.
Framber Valdez was the only lefthander in the Astros’ rotation. Lefthanded relievers Parker Mushinski and Matt Gage have shuttled between Triple-A Sugar Land and Houston this year, spending most of their seasons in the minors.
“We’re excited about him as a starter at the big league level,” Brown said.
