No they won’t. Not unless another starter goes down long term. They have 5 quality SP right now without McCullers plus 2 guys who can easily spot start (Whitley, Bielak) and a full 5-6 guys who with good springs and/or good April in AAA will be ready (Dubin, France, Endersby, Tamarez, Murray, Hansen) and a few high ceiling guys who could jump up from AA by mid season (Arrighetti, Melendez, Solis, etc.). There is no reason to panic.
I am not ready to count on Whitley for anything. Bielak is a more known quantity. Much more comfortable with him as 6th starter.
Altuve still hasn't learned how to lay off the high fastball.... look I love altuve but I hope we don't offer him a big extension.
Pena had decent biceps before. But his entire arm is jacked now. Even Correa was impressed in January. It is an unusual transformation. His bat speed is going to be off the charts.
Altuve hits what he shouldn't and misses what he should. But his numbers, while achieved with much cringe for purists, average out to be very good. Many of his notable home runs were outside the zone and some of these were high. I have long been a proponent of him hitting a little lower in the Batting Order because of his combination of OBP and SLG. But I might not have given him credit for messing with the minds of the pitcher and the opponent's game plan. Imagine perfectly executing your game plan and Altuve hit's a pitch he shouldn't. You start to question the game plan.
I talked about signing a SP during the offseason and was told we have too much depth. Well... that's going to be tested.
If Houston were to suffer another injury in the rotation, I think Mike Minor would be a great fit. He can he promised a shot in the rotation with the understand that if he is not performing well when the rotation is healthy then he can get moved to the bullpen.
Have we seen the last of those prospects? Ullola , Tamarez, Melendez particularly stand out in the theme of low signing bonus starters with secretly nasty stuff.