34-year old righty swinging LF Carlos Lee is having his worst season in the majors. Lee has played in 128 games for the Astros this season and he is 122 of 494 (.247 avg, .708 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 19 homers, 78 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Astros weren’t ready for Lee to play like this in 2010. After all, in his first three years with the Astros, Lee played in 437 games in which he was 510 of 1,673 (.305 avg) with 219 runs scored, 86 homers, 321 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Astros would love to see Lee finish strong so they can depend on him to rebound in 2011.

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 signed 35-year old 3B Pedro Feliz over the winter to a 1-year deal to solidify the infield with his mitt and bat. After all, he played in 158 games for the Phillies in 2009 in which he was 154 of 580 (.266 avg, .694 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 12 homers and 82 RBIs. The Astros would have loved to get numbers out of Feliz like the Phillies did last season. But, he is nowhere near the player he was last year. Feliz has played in 63 games this season for the Astros and he is 50 of 226 (.221 avg, .542 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers and 22 RBIs. The Astros have recalled Chris Johnson with the idea of him replacing Feliz as the starting 3B.

The Astros have gotten sick of waiting around for 26-year old righty swinging catcher J.R. Towles to start hitting so they have sent him to AA. Towles played in 17 games for the Astros this season and he was 9 of 47 (.191 avg, .554 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. 30-year old righty swinging Humberto Quintero will likely start more than half of the games for the Astros with Towles off the roster. Quintero has played in 14 games for the Astros this season and he is 9 of 42 (.214 avg, .536 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. The Astros have recalled 32-year old righty swinging catcher Kevin Cash to help out behind the plate. Cash has played in 7 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 4 of 23 (.174 avg, .382 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. I wouldn’t get too excited about Cash who is known for his defense. He has played in 197 games in his major league career and he is 98 of 527 (.186 avg, .535 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 10 homers, 53 RBIs. Cash has whiffed 166 times in his major league career often looking very overmatched with a bat in his hands.

With Lance Berkman returning from the D.L., Geoff Blum will go back to being one of the top players off the bench for the Astros. Blum has played in 9 games for the Astros this season and he is 7 for 28 (.250 avg, .597 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. His bat was a liability at 1B for the Astros but his versatility in the field makes him an asset off the bench.