34-year old righty swinging LF Carlos Lee is having his worst season in the majors. Lee has played in 128 games for the Astros this season and he is 122 of 494 (.247 avg, .708 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 19 homers, 78 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Astros weren’t ready for Lee to play like this in 2010. After all, in his first three years with the Astros, Lee played in 437 games in which he was 510 of 1,673 (.305 avg) with 219 runs scored, 86 homers, 321 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Astros would love to see Lee finish strong so they can depend on him to rebound in 2011.

31-year old lefty starting pitcher Wandy Rodriguez looked like he was sleepwalking for the first three months of the baseball season. But in July and August he has been on fire. Rodriguez has started 10 games the last two months for the Astros and he is 5-2 with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP as he has 72 whiffs in only 67 1/3 innings. Rodriguez has now started 26 games on the season and he is 10-12 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Astros need him to continue pitching well down the stretch as the Astros new goal should be third place in the N.L. Central.

The Astros have claimed 26-year old righty swinging infielder Matt Downs off waivers from the Giants. Downs played in 29 games for the Giants this year and he is 19 of 78 (.244 avg, .690 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He has now played in 46 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 28 of 131 (.214 avg, .619 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Astros will start Downs out in AAA but he will likely get called up when rosters expand on September 1st.

The Astros have placed starting 2B Jeff Keppinger on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured toe. Keppinger has played in 108 games this season for the Astros and he is 117 of 410 (.285 avg, .743 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 5 homers, 46 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Astros are going to miss Keppinger who was a very tough out as he has only whiffed 29 times this year. The Astros have recalled 27-year old switch hitting infielder Anderson Hernandez to replace Keppinger on the roster. Hernandez played in 6 games for the Astros earlier this year and he was 2 of 13 (.154 avg, .445 OPS) with 2 runs scored.

The Astros have traded 35-year old righty swinging 3B Pedro Feliz and cash to the Cardinals for 25-year old righty reliever David Carpenter. Feliz was a total bust for the Astros this year. He played in 97 games for the Astros this year and he was 64 of 289 (.221 avg, .555 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers and 31 RBIs. Feliz lost his starting job to Chris Johnson who has been rather impressive so the Astros had no need for him anymore. Carpenter has pitched in 49 games (0 starts) in A-ball this year and he was 5-3 with 20 saves, a 2.36 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In his three years in the minors he has pitched in 116 games (0 starts) in which he is 10-6 with 35 saves, a 3.26 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. While not one of the Cardinals’ better prospects, Carpenter still has been impressive in his minor league career so I like this deal for the Astros.