Urquidy's excellent showing in September and the postseason "almost cements him as the team's fourth starter," Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
The assumption has been that Urquidy would be in the Opening Day rotation, and that now seems to be a virtual lock with the quotes coming out of Astros camp. "I think Lance [McCullers] has got to step up, obviously [Zack] Greinke and [Justin] Verlander are going to be the staple of this, but I'm excited about Urquidy and I'm excited to see how that number five spot comes out," pitching coach Brent Strom said Tuesday. Josh James, Austin Pruitt and Framber Valdez were named as the realistic candidates for the fifth-starter job.