22-year old lefty swinging catcher Jason Castro was the #1 rated prospect in the Astros’ minor league system coming into this season according to Baseball America. He played in 119 games in A+AA ball this season and he was 134 for 446 (.300 avg, .826 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 10 homers and 73 RBIs. The Astros have a black hole behind the plate so they should put Castro on the fast track to Houston.

24-year old righty swinging 3B Chris Johnson was the Astros #5 rated prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. But, he hasn’t shown any improvement this season. If he had, he would probably be starting at the hot corner by now for the Astros. He has played in 73 games in A+AAA ball this season and he is 71 for 267 (.266 avg, .727 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 6 homers and 25 RBIs. It’s up to Johnson on whether or not he wants to get to Houston this season but things don’t look good for that happening this year unless he gets his act together soon.

24-year old righty starting pitcher Bud Norris was the #2 prospect in the Astros’ system heading into this year according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 15 games (all starts) in AAA-ball this season and he is 3-6 with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Norris has only allowed 81 hits while whiffing 92 batters in 93 innings but he will need to improve his control as he has walked 44 batters this season. Still, with the problems the rotation has been having for the Astros…..Norris should be in the show.

24-year old righty starting pitcher Brad James was the #6 prospect in the Houston Astros organization coming into this season according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook but he hasn’t pitched like it this season. James has started 17 games in AA-Ball this season and he is 6-6 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. James had better start missing more bats as he has allowed 106 hits in only 91 innings this season and that just won’t get the job done. He is picking a really bad time to regress on the mound as the Astros need starting pitching really badly right now.

The Houston Astros will likely give 27-year old righty starting pitcher Jack Cassel another shot at some point this season if he keeps pitching well in the minors. Cassel has pitched in 9 games (8 starts) in AAA ball this season and he is 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Cassel struggled earlier this season with the Astros before he was demoted. Cassel has pitched in 4 games (2 starts) with the Astros this season and he is 1-0 with a 6.28 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. If the Astros get in a sell mode they will likely move some starting pitchers opening up another opportunity for Cassel to prove he belongs in the majors.