The Houston Astros recalled Jewish left-handed pitcher Colton Gordon for his major league debut on Wednesday. The corresponding roster move has not been announced as of 12:30 p.m..
The Florida native will start against the Kansas City Royals as the Astros seek a series win. He will be the fifth player to debut for Houston in 2025.
The Astros selected Gordon out of the University of Central Florida in the eighth round of the 2021 draft. In two years with the UCF Knights, Gordon totalled 96 strikeouts in 78 ⅓ innings. Among pitchers in the American Athletic Conference in 2021, Gordon’s 72 strikeouts and 11.71 strikeouts per nine ranked in the top five for all pitchers.
Gordon pitched for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He started against Puerto Rico and allowed four runs in one inning. Israel lost the game 10-0 in a mercy rule defeat. He has not announced if he will return for the 2026 edition of the tournament.
MLB.com ranks the lefty as the 14th-best prospect in the Astros’ farm system. Gordon has a 2.55 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 42 ⅓ innings in Triple-A for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. He leads the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, where the Space Cowboys play, in innings pitched and ranks second in strikeouts.
Houston has struggled with health and quality from their starters. Projected cornerstone Spencer Arrighetti fractured his thumb one week into the 2025 season. Right-hander Luis Garcia still projects to need another month of recovery. Breakout candidate Hayden Wesneski recently joined the injured list with elbow trouble.
Houston already turned to rookies Ryan Gusto and AJ Blubaugh as potential solutions. Neither rookie impressed with a combined 11 starts of 6.04 ERA ball. Gusto is one of only two rookies with at least five starts this season and zero quality starts, defined as six or more innings with three or fewer runs allowed.
This season, Gordon threw at least five innings in seven of his eight starts and only allowed more than two runs once. Against the Salt Lake City Bees on May 9, he pitched six innings with five hits, two runs, no walks and set a season high in strikeouts with nine.
Gordon begins his career with a favorable matchup against the Royals lineup. Against left-handed pitching, Royals hitters rank last in MLB in home runs with two. They place 28th in slugging percentage (.295) and walk rate at 6.1%.
Gordon is the first Jewish pitcher on the Astros since Scott Feldman in 2015. His debut will mark 11 straight seasons with a Jewish player on Houston’s roster.
