Last year, Brett Myers had a fine year for the Astros. He pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Astros last year and he was 14-8 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP as he finished 10th in the voting for the N.L. Cy Young Award. For that, the Astros signed him to a 2-year, $23 million dollar deal with a vesting option for the 2013 season. Myers’ reward for the Astros’ faith in him has been a dismal 2011 season. Myers has pitched in 27 games (all starts) for the Astros this year and he is 3-13 with a 4.95 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He has given up 191 hits (29 of them are homers) in only 172 2/3 innings this year, as he has gotten hit hard. The Astros have tried to trade Myers, but they have found no takers due to the combo of his lack of performance and big paycheck. The Astros better hope that Myers turns things around soon because they appear stuck with him now.

The Astros have placed 27-year old lefty reliever Sergio Escalona on the 15-day disabled list due to left elbow tendinitis. Escalona has pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the Astros so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has only given up 23 hits in his first 27 innings pitched this year while whiffing 25 batters, so he has been impressive. But, he has walked 11 batters this year, so he will need to tighten up his control in the near future.

The Astros dealt Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence at the trade deadline, leaving LF/1B Carlos Lee pretty much alone in the batter order among the veterans. He has not hit well at all in August for the Astros this month, as he has played in 17 games in which he is 10 for 58 (.172 avg, .556 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. He has now played in 121 games for the Astros overall this year and he is 119 for 459 (.259 avg, .729 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 11 homers, 68 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Lee is likely to get walked a lot the rest of the year because he’s not going to have much protection in the batting order going forward.

The Astros have released 37-year old righty starter/reliever Nelson Figueroa. Figueroa pitched in 8 games (5 starts) for the Astros last year and he was 0-3 with a 8.69 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP. He pitched in 26 games (15 starts) in his two years with the Astros and he was 5-6 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. The Astros are in rebuilding mode, so Figueroa didn’t fit into their plans anymore.

22-year old switch-hitting 3B Jimmy Paredes came into this season as the Astros’ #7 prospect according to Baseball America. Paredes played in 93 games in AA-ball this year and he was 104 for 385 (.270 avg, .726 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 10 homers, 41 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. The Astros called up Paredes recently to replace Chris Johnson (he was demoted to AAA) as the starting 3B, and he has not been overwhelmed by any means. Paredes has played in 15 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 16 for 54 (.296 avg, .826 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Astros hope that Paredes finishes the 2011 strongly.