Colton

Gordon

Arnold also indicated that fellow acquisition Colton Gordon will likely head to Triple-A for now. If McCullers, who has been on the IL for two months with shoulder inflammation, is activated, one imagines he’d be part of a six-man rotation the first time through. He could bump Robert Gasser afterwards if he proves worthy. McCullers made his last start July 7, giving up four runs — two earned — in four innings for Triple-A Sugar Land.

Gordon has only thrown 9 1/3 innings for the Astros this season, but he’s posted a 3.69 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 55/14 K/BB ratio in 70 2/3 innings in Triple-A. Gordon, much like Shane Drohan and Chad Patrick, has experience both as a starter and a reliever, so he will provide some organizational depth and potential bulk innings for the Brewers down the stretch.

Gordon was only up for one day, and gets the boot with Bryan Abreu coming off the restricted list in a corresponding move. Gordon is likely to be an up-and-down arm throughout the 2026 campaign.

Gordon provides Houston with a fresh arm for Wednesday’s series finale in Toronto. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since April, when he allowed 12 runs over 9 1/3 innings despite an 11/3 K/BB ratio. He’ll operate in long relief out of the Astros bullpen.

Gordon returns to the minors to make room for lefty setup specialist Bennett Sousa after allowing 12 runs on 21 hits, including a staggering six home runs, despite an 11/3 K/BB ratio over 9 1/3 innings over four appearances this season. The 27-year-old swingman will be back at some point down the line when the Astros need someone to gobble up low-leverage innings.

Gordon started against the Rockies on Tuesday and seemed like the leading candidate to start Monday against the Guardians, but that has to be off the table now. He might be sent down in exchange for a fresh arm.

Gordon struck out the side in the first but was tagged for a solo homer by Hunter Goodman. Three hits in the second brought two more runs home for the Rockies in the second. Jordan Beck added a run with a solo homer in the fourth inning. Gordon then loaded the bases on two hits and a hit batter before he was replaced with two outs at 68 pitches. The bullpen would strand the runners on base. Gordon collected five strikeouts. The 27-year-old left-hander should get another turn in the rotation next Monday against the Guardians in Cleveland, given Houston’s lack of healthy starting pitchers. Still, there’s no real fantasy appeal here.

Gordon takes the ball in place of an injured Cristian Javier (shoulder) as Houston attempts to snap a surreal eight-game losing streak. The 27-year-old will be making his season debut at Daikin Park with a pretty favorable matchup since the Rockies historically tend to struggle away from Coors Field for a variety of reasons. He’s a risky streaming option after posting a pedestrian 5.34 ERA across 86 innings at the highest level last year, but there’s some appeal in extremely deep mixed leagues.

The 27-year-old Gordon is up for the first time in 2026 after going 6-4 with a 5.34 ERA in 14 starts and six relief appearances for the Astros last year. He’ll likely move into the Astros’ injury-plagued rotation and start Tuesday or Wednesday against the Rockies.

The Astros will transition to a six-man rotation around mid-April when they hit a stretch of 13 consecutive games without an off-day. Hunter Brown and Tatsuya Imai are the only locks right now with Cristian Javier, Mike Burrows and Lance McCullers Jr. figuring to break camp in the rotation as well. The battle for the sixth spot in the rotation involves a combination of Spencer Arrighetti, AJ Blubaugh and Peter Lambert. The other option is to bring up someone like Jason Alexander or Colton Gordon a couple weeks into the year.