27-year old righty swinging outfielder Hunter Pence has been a light in the darkness for the Astros this year. He has played in 102 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 110 of 399 (.276 avg, .760 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 15 homers, 55 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He has career highs of 78 runs scored, 25 homers, 83 RBIs and 14 stolen bases and he could surpass all of those numbers in 2010 despite not having much help in the lineup. The Astros were smart to keep Pence as a few teams wanted him at the trade deadline.

The Astros are looking smart for benching Pedro Feliz and bringing up Chris Johnson to start at 3B. Johnson has played in 33 games for the Astros this year and he is 35 of 111 (.315 avg, .832 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers, 17 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The only thing he will have to work on appears to be plate discipline as he has whiffed 27 times while only walking 3 times so far this year. The Astros need to keep going with the younger players to see what they have for the future.

I was a little surprised that 27-year old outfielder Michael Bourn made the All-Star team over Roy Oswalt or Hunter Pence. But he is the best defensive outfielder and he’s the best base stealer on the N.L. roster. That makes Charlie Manuel’s decision make a little more sense. Bourn has played in 79 games for the Astros this season and he is 77 of 296 (.260 avg, .678 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 1 homer, 20 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if Bourn’s speed plays a big factor in the All-Star Game. This is his 1st time playing in a All-Star Game.

30-year old righty swinging Jeff Keppinger has settled into his role as the Astros’ #2 hitter and starting 2B. Keppinger has played in 58 games for the Astros so far this season and he is 64 of 219 (.292 avg, .727 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 1 homer, 22 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He also has a good eye at the plate as he has only whiffed 13 times this year. Keppinger would have a lot more runs scored if anybody was hitting consistently behind him but Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman and until recently Hunter Pence have struggled this year.

27-year old righty swinging outfielder Hunter Pence didn’t let the rest of the team drag him down in May. He played in 27 games last month in which he was 32 of 106 (.302 avg, .852 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 6 homers, 16 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Overall this year, Pence has played in 48 games in which he is 51 of 188 (.271 avg, .734 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 8 homers, 23 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He is leading the Astros in homers and RBIs this season so far while he is second in runs scored and stolen bases. His numbers would look a lot better if he was getting some help in the batting order.