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.