Gordon, a No. 11 prospect, might have an effect on the Astros in 2025.
HOUSTON — By getting added to the 40-man roster earlier this week to avoid getting exposed in the Rule 5 Draft, left-hander Colton Gordon the Astros’ No. 11-ranked prospect was able to put his mind at ease following a tumultuous few weeks at home in Florida.
More than four feet of water damaged his father’s house in St. Pete Beach, in addition to a 20-foot tree crashing through the roof. Gordon and his father spent weeks cleaning up the mess and helping with the rebuild. His mother’s house in Bradenton also took on some water in Hurricane Helene.
“It was a mad rush to get life semi-situated and organized and help my parents’ house and my stuff I leave behind for the season,” Gordon said. “And now that that’s under control, it’s time to focus on building that back in 2025.”
Gordon, who missed the spring and the first month of the season with a lat injury, went 8-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) across 123 1/3 innings at Triple-A Sugar Land, striking out 124 batters and allowing a .238 opponents’ average. He started the game the Space Cowboys won to take the Triple-A National Championship in Las Vegas, which was right before the hurricane hit. His father had to scurry back to Florida.
“He said, ‘Man, I think there’s a hurricane coming,’” said Gordon. “He got on a flight the next morning [after the championship game] and cleaned out the house the next day of family photos, clothes, whatever would fit in a U-Haul truck. That night, four or five feet of water in the house. Living right on the beach, right on the bay, just a crazy amount of destruction, by the whole beachfront itself.”
Gordon flew with the team back to Houston the next day and then began driving home to Florida to see the destruction for himself. On top of that, another hurricane — Milton — was bearing down.
“I had to get my mom’s house secure with the next hurricane, get everything that we took out of the house into a storage unit,” he said. “The drywall was already wet and would have been way harder to get out after a second storm surge came in. That second storm wasn’t as bad.”
Gordon, an eighth-round pick from the University of Central Florida in the 2021 MLB Draft, could compete for a spot in the back of the Astros’ rotation next spring after his breakthrough ’24 campaign put him on the organizational map.
