DALLAS -- While the future of free agent third baseman Alex Bregman has heretofore dominated the Astros¡¯ offseason, the club¡¯s pursuit of starting pitching remains on the front burner at the Winter Meetings. Barring a trade, the Astros will return four pitchers who combined to throw 73.7% of the team¡¯s starting pitching workload in 2024.

That¡¯s a good beginning, but Houston¡¯s depth is questionable beyond Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrighetti, who threw a combined 649 1/3 innings last season. Valdez (176 1/3) remains a workhorse starter entering his final season before free agency, with Brown (170), Blanco (167 1/3) and Arrighetti (145) each reaching careers highs in innings pitched.

The Astros lost free agent lefty Yusei Kikuchi to the Angels, and they¡¯re not likely to bring back Justin Verlander. They hope Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery in May 2023) can return for Opening Day, with Cristian Javier (Tommy John in June 2024) back in late summer. The health of Lance McCullers Jr. and J.P. France remains in question, too.

With in that in mind, general manager Dana Brown said Tuesday the club is actively in pursuit of starting pitching.

¡°If we have an opportunity in different trades or anything to acquire a starter, I¡¯m always in the business for a starter,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can ever have enough.¡±

The Astros were reminded of that last season. Verlander missed more than half the season with injuries, Garcia, McCullers and Jose Urquidy suffered setbacks in their returns, and France was lost early in the season. Blanco and Arrighetti stepped up and filled the voids, and Kikuchi¡¯s addition via trade gave Houston five reliable starters.

So where will the depth come from in 2025? The next wave of young arms includes No. 7 prospect Miguel Ullola, No. 9 prospect A.J. Blubaugh, No. 11 prospect Colton Gordon (who was added to the 40-man roster in November) and Ryan Gusto, who was scheduled to start the '24 season finale in Cleveland in his Major League debut before it was cancelled because of rain.

¡°If we can sign someone and it¡¯s Gusto, Gordon, Blubaugh and potentially Ullola, if that¡¯s your depth, I think you¡¯re in a good spot,¡± Brown said. ¡°If you get Garcia, and he turns the corner like we think he can, that would be a nice shot in the arm for the rotation, because now you¡¯re getting a guy with postseason experience back.¡±

Brown is a fan of a six-man starting rotation, which Houston employed at various times last year. Keeping in mind last season¡¯s workload on young arms like Brown, Blanco and Arrighetti, the Astros will have to monitor those innings again.

¡°That¡¯s going to be something that [pitching coach] Josh Miller is going to talk about in Spring Training -- not riding the guys too hard, making roster moves up and down if you could, skipping starts and things like that,¡± Brown said. ¡°Those guys are in unchartered territory, and we do have to be mindful of that. If we continue to do that, these guys will have a chance to post the entire season.¡±

Brown said Monday that Garcia and McCullers have both resumed throwing, with Garcia a bit ahead of McCullers in terms of his rehab schedule. Garcia was throwing 95 mph near the end of last season before the Astros shut him down. The club announced in August that McCullers would miss his second full season, halting his recovery from surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and remove a bone spur.

¡°Lance, we know there would be some restrictions for the innings, and so he would be more of a guy who could fill innings for us in certain starts and we would have to monitor those innings,¡± Brown said. ¡°In the course of 162 games, those could be very important innings. If we could get Lance back, that would be great. We could get him back as a starter; we could put him in the ¡®pen at times. We know what he¡¯s done here when he¡¯s been healthy. Those two guys would really be big in terms of run prevention."