The catchers were like a black hole for the Astros last season as they just couldn’t hit. They hope this season that 23-year old lefty Jason Castro will change that. He played in 67 games for the Astros in his first taste of the majors last season and he was 40 of 195 (.205 avg, .573 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. Castro is a career .287 hitter with a .788 OPS in his first three years in the minors so the Astros have high hopes for him. Castro had some concentration issues behind the plate last season for the Astros as he had 2 errors and 7 passed balls in 67 games behind the dish. But, he also threw out 17 of 49 (34.7%) runners trying to steal against him last season and Astros’ pitchers had a 3.92 ERA with him behind the plate. Castro will get every chance this spring to prove that he’s ready to be the main man behind the plate for the Astros.

31-year old Humberto Quintero will likely be the backup catcher for the Astros in 2011. He played in 88 games for the Astros last season and he was 62 of 265 (.234 avg, .579 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers and 20 RBIs. Quintero is a hacker when batting as he only walked 8 times while whiffing 59 times last season. Quintero’s numbers last season are about his ceiling as he is not much of a hitter. Quintero had 5 errors and 4 passed balls in 87 games behind the plate last season. Quintero threw out 17 of 54 (31.5%) runners trying to steal on him and Astros pitchers had a 3.99 ERA with him behind the plate so they like throwing to him. If Quintero plays in 88 games behind the plate again in 2011, the Astros will be in deep trouble.

26-year old righty swinging J.R. Towles is running out of time in Houston. He played in 17 games for the Astros last season and he was 9 of 47 (.191 avg, .554 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. Towles has always teased the Astros as he has always hit well in the minors but in the majors he has a career average of .189 with a .600 OPS in 101 games for them. Towles had 1 error in 15 games behind the plate for the Astros last season but he didn’t have any passed balls. Towles threw out 3 of 11 (27.2%) runners trying to steal on him last season and Astros pitchers had a 4.47 ERA with him behind the plate. It will say quite a lot about Towles if he can’t beat out Humberto Quintero this spring for the backup job.

31-year old righty swinging Brian Esposito played in 2 games for the Astros last season and he was 0 for 3 with a whiff. He also played in 60 games in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 40 of 197 (.203 avg, .512 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 2 homers and 18 RBIs. Astros pitchers had a 9.00 ERA in Esposito’s 3 innings behind the dish. He had 4 errors and 6 passed balls in 57 games behind the plate in the minors. The Astros will be in bad, bad shape if Esposito plays for them at all in 2011.

27-year old switch hitting Carlos Corporan played in 87 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 83 of 286 (.290 avg, .870 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 12 homers, 50 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He’s lucky he can hit a little bit because he’s awful with a mitt on. He had 12 errors and 6 passed balls in 78 games behind the plate in AAA ball last season. Corporan might get a shot for the Astros at some point in 2011 if he can improve his defense.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE ASTROS CATCHERS IN 2011: D-

The Houston Astros have acquired 26-year old lefty reliever Sergio Escalona from the Phillies for 23-year old righty swinging 2B Albert Cartwright. Escalona pitched in 50 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 4-8 with 10 saves, a 3.81 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Phillies in 2009 (his only major league experience) and he was 1-0 with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Albert Cartwright played in 127 games in A+AA-ball last season and he was 145 of 494 (.294 avg, .827 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 10 homers, 55 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. This was a good deal for both teams as Escalona might help the Astros in the pen in 2011 while Cartwright gives the Phillies something instead of losing Escalona on waivers.

30-year old righty swinging 2B Jeff Keppinger is going to miss the start of the 2011 season due to left foot surgery. Keppinger played in 127 games for the Astros last season and he was 148 of 514 (.288 avg, .744 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 6 homers, 59 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has played in 244 games in his first two years with the Astros and he is 226 of 819 (.276 avg, .730 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 13 homers, 88 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. With Bill Hall starting at 2B and Clint Barmes starting at SS in 2011, the Astros were trying to deal Keppinger. He will likely be the Astros’ utility infielder when he gets back to health sometime early in 2011.