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.

23-year old lefty swinging 1B Brett Wallace, 27-year old lefty starting pitcher J.A. Happ and 25-year old righty reliever Mark Melancon have been so-so for the Astros. Wallace has played in 17 games for the Astros this year and he is 11 of 48 (.229 avg, .598 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 16 whiffs. He hasn’t shown the power the scouts have said he has but it’s really early. J.A. Happ has had one really bad start and it has skewed his numbers so far. He has started 4 games for the Astros and he is 2-1 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He has only given up 13 hits and whiffed 18 batters in only 19 1/3 innings but he has walked 15 batters so he needs to tighten up his control a bit. Mark Melancon has looked o.k. in his first three games out of the bullpen as he is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP.