The Astros catchers’ are both hitting terrible this season and the team can’t afford to go with these guys much longer. Rookie J.R. Towles was supposed to be the answer behind the plate for the Astros based on his strong showing last September. But, he has truly been awful with a bat in his hands. Towles has played in 39 games this season for the Astros and he is 16 for 109 (.147 avg, .567 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs. Veteran Brad Ausmas hasn’t played well enough to take the job away from Towles. Ausmas has played in 25 games for the Astros this season and he is 13 for 66 (.197 avg, .494 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. The Astros should look to make a trade for a young catcher like Cleveland’s Kelly Shoppach or Seattle’s Jeff Clement.

Speedy center fielder Michael Bourn is as fast as hell but it won’t matter if he doesn’t start hitting the ball on the ground and take full advantage of his speed. Bourn has played in 28 games for the Astros so far this season and he is 21 for 104 (.202 avg, .605 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers, 5 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Bourn better get his bat going because veteran Darin Erstad has been swinging a hot bat so far this year. Erstad has played in 28 games for the Astros this season and he is 14 for 46 (.304 avg, .700 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. With the catchers on the Astros not hitting the ball they can’t afford to keep playing Bourn unless he earns his time by hitting the ball better.

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.

Jason Lane followed up a dismal 2006 season with an even worse year in 2007 which all but ensures that he will be playing somewhere else next season. Lane has played in 66 games this season and he is only 30 for 167 (.180 avg, .612 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 8 homers and 26 RBIs. The Astros have been patient the last couple of seasons with Lane because of the year he had in 2005. In 2005, Lane hit played in 145 games and he hit .267 (.815 OPS) with 26 homers and 78 RBIs. But with Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence and Luke Scott manning the outfield Lane will likely have a new address in 2008.

Brad Ausmus, Chris Burke, Adam Everett, Luke Scott and Morgan Ensberg have all been pretty bad with the bats this season and it has hurt the Astros this season.  Ausmus has never been much of a hitter but his weak bat is amplified when other batters aren’t picking him up. Ausmus is hitting .249 with 27 runs scored, 2 homers and 18 RBIs in 221 atbats this season. Don’t expect him to do much better in the 2nd half of the season. Chris Burke started the season in centerfield but he lost the job to Hunter Pence because of his poor hitting. Burke is only hitting .235 with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 6 stolen bases so far this seaosn. Adam Everett broke his leg a while ago and he might have a hard time getting his job back from Mark Loretta if he doesn’t hit better when he returns. Everett is only hitting .228 with 17 runs scofed, 2 homers and 15 RBIs in 215 atbats this season. Luke Scott has hit for some power this season (10 homers, 38 RBIs) but he is only hittting .226 this season and that’s just not going to get it done. Morgan Ensberg is probably the most disappointing hitter on the Astros as they expected much more than they are getting from him this season. He is hitting .210 with 33 runs scored, 7 homers and 25 RBIs over 195 atbats. Mike Lamb will likely get a lot more playing time than Ensberg in the 2nd half unless he can regain his hitting stroke.