27-year old righty swinging infielder Matt Downs could be a late bloomer as he is playing really well for the Astros this year. He has played in 106 games for the Astros this year and he is 55 for 199 (.276 avg, .864 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 10 homers and 41 RBIs. Downs has now played in 163 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 85 for 349 (.244 avg, .741 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 12 homers, 50 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Downs will probably get a chance next spring to compete for the starting job at 2B for the Astros in 2012.

On July 31, 2010, the Astros dealt Lance Berkman to the Yankees for righty reliever Mark Melancon and 3B Jimmy Paredes. 26-year old righty reliever Mark Melancon is now the closer for the Astros. He has pitched in 68 games (0 starts) for the Astros so far this year and he is 7-4 with 19 saves, a 2.94 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. 22-year old switch-hitting 3B Jimmy Paredes has been the Astros’ starting 3B for the last month and a half. He has played in 42 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 46 for 154 (.299 avg, .734 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers, 16 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. It sucked that the Astros had to deal Berkman last July, but it appears that they have gotten a nice return for him as Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes appear to have bright futures.

24-year old lefty swinging CF Jordan Schafer has gotten off to a very fast start with the Astros. He has played in 10 games for the Astros so far and he is 12 for 37 (.324 avg, .810 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 5 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Schafer has now played in 62 games for the Braves & Astros this year and he is 59 for 233 (.253 avg, .653 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 2 homers, 12 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Schafer was once considered one of the Braves’ top prospects, so maybe a change of scenery will spark him to play up to his potential with the Astros.

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.

23-year old righty swinging J.D. Martinez took over for Hunter Pence after he was dealt and he is taking off. Martinez has played in 11 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 11 for 39 (.282 avg, 1.016 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 4 homers and 12 RBIs. He has also played in 88 games in AA-ball earlier this year and he was 107 for 317 (.338 avg, .959 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 13 homers, 72 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Martinez came into this season as the Astros’ #6 ranked prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 298 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 382 for 1,118 (.342 avg, .958 OPS) with 199 runs scored, 43 homers, 217 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. The Astros hope that Martinez keeps rolling along with the bat for them because they have had a hard time scoring runs this year.