Houston Astros Youngster Emerging As Potential Rotation Option During Season

There has been a lot of attention on the Houston Astros lineup and how they will configure their defense during the 2025 season.

They lost a lot of talent this offseason with Kyle Tucker being traded to the Chicago Cubs and Alex Bregman leaving in free agency, signing a deal with the Boston Red Sox.

But, the team did as good of a job as possible attempting to fill those voids, acquiring Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith from the Cubs and signing first baseman Christian Walker in free agency.

They will help replace the production that was lost.

On the mound, there are serious question marks after Justin Verlander and Yusei Kikuchi left in free agency, signing deals with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels.

Beyond ace Framber Valdez and emerging star Hunter Brown, there are a lot of question marks.

Ronel Blanco is the No. 3, but there are concerns that a regression to the mean could occur in 2025 as his underlying and advanced statistics hint that there was a little bit of luck in his stellar 2024 campaign.

Hayden Wesneski, also acquired from Chicago, could factor into the mix. After that, it is a lot of players returning from injury that the team will be counting on to eat innings at the backend of the rotation.

Lance McCullers Jr. hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since 2022. Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia are both returning from serious injury.

It would not be a surprise if the team has to dip into the organizational depth to find some help throughout the summer.

One player to keep an eye on as an option down the road is Colton Gordon.

An eighth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of UCF, he has methodically been making his way through the minor league system. He dominated at Rookie-Ball, Single-A and High-A in 2022, earning a promotion to Double-A in 2023.

Gordon performed well enough that he made his Triple-A debut later that year. He spent the entire 2024 campaign with Sugar Land, throwing 123.1 innings with 124 strikeouts and a 3.94 ERA.

He isn’t going to blow opponents away with high octane stuff, but keeps opponents off balance with a good mix of off-speed pitches and really solid control.

His slider is truly devastating, which the New York Mets found out during their spring training game against the Astros on Feb. 27.

Gordon, making his second appearance of the spring, pitched two innings and mowed them down. He allowed only one hit and struck out three with his slider being the star of the show.

That pitch registered an impressive proStuff+ score of 115 with a whiff rate of 40% and 0.0% barrel rate.

His four-seamer averaged only 91.6 mph, with his sinker being in the same ballpark at 91.3. Far from a flamethrower, he more than makes up for it with the unique arm slot and excellent breaking ball.

Colton Gordon and his Hand of God slider were lights out against the Mets this afternoon!

While he may lack velocity, he makes it up with such a unique slider! pic.twitter.com/tVBWcONy03
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 27, 2025

While Gordon may not profile as an ace in the Major Leagues, he can certainly be a solid depth option for Houston as early as this year. He has showcased a solid five-pitch arsenal, with a proStuff+ score of 99 against the Mets, which is just below the average of 100.

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