Inside the Astros

Astros Name Starting Pitcher for First Spring Training Game vs. Nationals

Manager Joe Espada and the Houston Astros have named their Grapefruit League opening game starting pitcher.
Cameron Zunkel|
The Astros have named a starting pitcher for their first spring training game.
The Astros have named a starting pitcher for their first spring training game. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

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Houston Astros

All players have reported for camp, and spring training games are set to begin on February 20th. The Houston Astros will begin their spring on Saturday against the Washington Nationals. With that, manager Joe Espada has named his starting pitcher for the opening game.

There are multiple pitchers Espada could have chosen for Saturday's opener. Houston could have handed the ball to Tatsuya Imai, but he is also a part of the designated pitcher pool for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic. Lance McCullers is gearing up for, hopefully, a healthy season. 2026 might be his last, and the Astros could have had him start the first game of spring training.

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Neither of them will be taking the ball on Saturday, though. Instead, Espada will be handing the ball to Colton Gordon, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Who is Colton Gordon?

Colton Gordon pitching for the Houston Astros in all white uniform.
Colton Gordon will get the ball for the first game of spring training. | William Liang-Imagn Images

Gordon is a left-handed pitcher whom the Astros drafted in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB draft. He finally made his big league debut during the 2025 season, but faced some struggles.

In 20 games pitched, including 14 starts, Gordon threw 86.0 innings, allowed a .293 oBA, allowed 21 home runs, struck out 72 batters and finished with a 5.34 ERA. He has great command, but was hit around quite a bit. If he makes his way back to Daikin Park this year, Houston will need him to be less hittable.

In the minors, Gordon was much better. Last season, the left-hander threw 56.0 innings in Triple-A across 11 starts. He struck out 56 batters, allowed 59 hits, walked 16 and finished with a 3.38 ERA. Even at that level, Gordon was still allowing more hits than a team may want to see out of a starting pitcher.

With Gordon getting the ball on Saturday, it seems the Astros will give him a fair chance to prove he has made an improvement. However, it is important to keep in mind that Houston has a full rotation. Joining Imai and McCullers will be the ace of the staff, Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Mike Burrows and Ryan Weiss.

With that in mind, it is going to be tough for Gordon to truly earn a spot in the starting rotation. But a bullpen role is not out of the question. Nonetheless, Gordon will pitch on Saturday for an inning or two against the Nationals.

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Cameron Zunkel
CAMERON ZUNKEL

Cameron Zunkel is a sports writer from the western suburbs of Chicago. He played Division-II baseball at the University of Illinois at Springfield where he earned a masters degree in Communication. Cameron also played independent league baseball for the Joliet Slammers and Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League. He has been in journalism since 2022 and has a passion for baseball specifically, but he enjoys all sports. His other work includes writing sports betting articles for ClutchPoints. In his free time, you can catch Cam at the gym, on the golf course, or coaching the youth in the beautiful sport of baseball.

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