23-year old lefty swinging catcher Jason Castro was the Astros’ #1 prospect coming into this season. But, he has been overmatched so far by major league pitching. Castro has played in 40 games for the Astros this year and he is 23 of 120 (.192 avg, .540 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. Castro has also whiffed 19 times already this season. But the Astros don’t have any alternatives so look for Castro to keep starting behind the plate. My only fear with that is that Castro might get into a funk if he doesn’t start having success soon just like J.R. Towles has.

The Astros have placed 30-year old righty reliever Matt Lindstrom on the 15-day disabled list with back spasms. Lindstrom has pitched in 44 games (0 starts) for the Astros this year and he is 2-4 with 22 saves, a 4.15 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He has given up 54 hits and he has walked 17 batters in 43 1/3 innings as his effectiveness has started to wane lately. 30-year old righty Brandon Lyon and 26-year old righty Wilton Lopez will likely share save opportunities until Lindstrom is ready to come back. Lyon has pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Astros this year and he is 6-5 with 4 saves, a 3.63 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Wilton Lopez has been very effective this year for the Astros. He has pitched in 52 games (0 starts) and he is 4-0 with 1 save, a 2.94 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has whiffed 39 batters while only walking 5 in 52 innings for the Astros this year showing he has the stuff to handle working late in ballgames. The Astros have called up 24-year old lefty reliever Fernando Abad to replace Lindstrom on the active roster and in the bullpen. Abad pitched in 1 game earlier this year working a scoreless inning for the Astros. Abad has also pitched in 19 games (4 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Astros and he was 4-3 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.

36-year old righty Nelson Figueroa will be joining the starting rotation this weekend for the Astros. Wesley Wright failed and was sent to the minors. Figueroa has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Astros this year and he is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He has only walked 2 batters while whiffing 13 in 11 1/3 innings as he has been very solid since joining the Astros. Figueroa is a journeyman type pitcher but he will likely give the Astros 5-6 solid innings per night.

The Astros have released 28-year old righty reliever Brad Thompson. Thompson pitched in 15 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Astros this year and he was 1-1 with a 8.87 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. He allowed a whopping 41 hits in only 23 1/3 innings in AAA so the Astros knew he wasn’t going to help them any time soon. They won’t miss him at all.

27-year old righty swinging outfielder Hunter Pence has been a light in the darkness for the Astros this year. He has played in 102 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 110 of 399 (.276 avg, .760 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 15 homers, 55 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He has career highs of 78 runs scored, 25 homers, 83 RBIs and 14 stolen bases and he could surpass all of those numbers in 2010 despite not having much help in the lineup. The Astros were smart to keep Pence as a few teams wanted him at the trade deadline.