Speedy center fielder Michael Bourn is as fast as hell but it won’t matter if he doesn’t start hitting the ball on the ground and take full advantage of his speed. Bourn has played in 28 games for the Astros so far this season and he is 21 for 104 (.202 avg, .605 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers, 5 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Bourn better get his bat going because veteran Darin Erstad has been swinging a hot bat so far this year. Erstad has played in 28 games for the Astros this season and he is 14 for 46 (.304 avg, .700 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. With the catchers on the Astros not hitting the ball they can’t afford to keep playing Bourn unless he earns his time by hitting the ball better.

The Astros need more offensive punch out of the catching position. Rookie J.R. Towles won the starting job out of spring training but he’s off to a very slow start with the bat. He has played in 25 games for the Astros this season and he is 12 for 68 (.176 avg, .706 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 4 homers and 10 RBIs. The Astros would be better served by Towles if he quit swinging for the fences so often and concentrated on hitting the ball hard up the middle. Veteran Brad Ausmus has never been much of an offensive threat and that’s the case this season also. Ausmus has played in 13 games this season for the Astros and he is 7 for 34 (.206 avg, .500 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. The Astros should have tried to find a way to keep Humberto Quintero around as he played in 1 game for the Astros and he was 2 for 4 with a double.