The Astros have decided to designate Morgan Ensberg for assignment which essentially ends his career with the Astros. The team now has 10 days to trade or release Ensberg. He has played in 85 games this season for the Astros and he was only hitting .232 with a .707 OPS, 36 runs scored, 8 homers and 31 RBIs. Ensberg could never duplicate his career season of 2005 but some team might be willing to take a chance on him. He finishes his career with the Astros having played in 673 games. In those games he was 551 of 2,072 (.266 avg, .842 OPS) with 323 runs scored, 105 homers and 335 RBIs. The Astros have recalled lefty reliever Mark McLemore to replace Ensberg on the roster and Dan Wheeler in the bullpen. He has pitched in 6 games for the Astros this season and he is 0-0 with a 7.11 ERA and a 2.21 WHIP.

The Astros decided that they have had enough of Morgan Ensberg at third base so they traded reliever Dan Wheeler to the Devil Rays for Ty Wigginton. Ensberg has played in 85 games this season and he is 52 for 224 (.232 avg, .716 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 8 homers and 31 RBIs. Wigginton has much better numbers than Ensberg plus he can also handle first and second base on defense. Wigginton has played in 98 games this season for the Devil Rays and he was 104 for 378 (.275 avg, .787 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 16 homers and 49 RBIs. The Astros must be confident that Wigginton can keep up the pace that he has set the last two seasons with the Devil Rays. Wigginton has now played in 623 major league games in his major league career as he is 576 for 2,160 (.267 avg, .774 OPS) with 276 runs scored, 81 homers and 308 RBIs. This will likely wind up being a good trade for the Astros.

Dan Wheeler was having a rough season for the Astros as he was 1-4 with 11 saves, a 5.07 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. In 45 games this season Wheeler pitched 49.2 innings and he has allowed 46 hits, walked 13 batters and whiffed 56. With Brad Lidge re-established as the closer, Chad Qualls will replace Wheeler as the Astros primary set-up man.

The Houston Astros have placed outfielder Hunter Pence on the 15-day disabled list with a chip fracture in his left wrist. Pence will likely miss the next 4-6 weeks with the injury. This is a huge blow to the Astros as Pence has been fantastic this season as a rookie. He has played in 73 games this season and he is 103 for 312 (.330 avg, .919 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 12 homers, 45 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Chris Burke will replace Pence as the starting CF until he is ready to return. Burke has played in 58 games so far this season and he is 40 for 177 (.226 avg, .660 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Astros have recalled outfielder Jason Lane to replace Pence on the roster. Lane has played in 36 games this season for the Astros and he is 13 for 79 (.165 avg, .529 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 4 homers and 10 RBIs.

Woody Williams and Dan Wheeler have repeatedly let the Astros down this season.  The Astros gave Williams a lot of money in the off season to help replace Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte and he has done a terrible job. Williams is 4-10 this season with a 5.34 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Don’t look for Williams to get any better in the 2nd half as he is starting to look his age on the mound. Wheeler was handed the closers job after Brad Lidge blew a save early in the season. He started out doing a good job but he has fallen on hard times lately. Wheeler is 1-4 with 11 saves, a 5.70 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP this season. It appears as if Wheeler can’t handle the pressure of the closers job as he has allowed 8 homers in only 42.2 innings. The crazy thing about Wheeler is that the stuff is there as evidenced by his 51 strikeouts this season.

The only pitchers that looked good in the first half of the season for the Astros were Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez. Brad Lidge lost his closers job on opening day but he has straightened himself back out through hard work. Lidge is 2-1 with a 2.34 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP so far this season. He is on the DL now but it’s possible that he could get his closers job back when he returns as Dan Wheeler has done a poor job. Roy Oswalt is 8-5 this season with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP this season. He would have much better numbers if the bullpen was better and the offense could score a few more runs. Lefty starter Wandy Rodriguez had a good first half of the season as he was 6-7 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. His record should be better but that’s not his fault.