Shortstop was a Black Hole for the Houston Astros last season. That won’t be the case this year due to the arrival of 31-year old righty swinging Clint Barmes. Barmes played in 133 games for the Rockies last season and he was 91 of 387 (.235 avg, .656 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 8 homers, 50 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Barmes has a career batting average of .254 with a .704 OPS in his first 8 years in the majors. Look for him to hit better in 2011 now that he’s back to his natural position as he played a lot at 2B in 2010 for the Rockies. Barmes made 5 errors in 47 games at SS last season for the Rockies while showing outstanding range. I look for him to be outstanding defensively for the Astros in 2011.

27-year old righty swinging Angel Sanchez was the Astros’ best shortstop last season and he will be a favorite to win a bench job for them this spring. Sanchez played in 66 games for the Astros & Red Sox last season and he was 70 of 253 (.277 avg, .656 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 0 homers and 25 RBIs. He is a decent contact hitter but he has virtually no power. Sanchez made 5 errors in 57 games at SS for the Astros last season while showing pathetic range. He needs to improve defensively this year.

27-year old righty swinging Tommy Manzella entered last season as the starting shortstop for the Astros but that didn’t last too long. Manzella played in 83 games for the Astros last season and he was 58 of 258 (.225 avg, .531 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 1 homer and 21 RBIs. He also whiffed 71 times which was way too many for a hitter like him. Manzella made 9 errors in 82 games at SS last season while showing above average range. He will have his work cut out for him trying to win a job on the Astros’ bench.

28-year old switch hitting Anderson Hernandez didn’t make any errors in 18 games at SS last season while showing outstanding range. He has good versatility but he’s not much of a hitter. Hernandez will also be a longshot to win a job this spring.

26-year old righty swinging Oswaldo Navarro played in 14 games for the Astros last season in his first taste of the majors and he was 1 for 20 (.050 avg, .290 OPS) with 2 runs scored. Navarro also played in 81 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 78 of 288 (.271 avg, .785 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 6 homers, 37 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. So he can hit a lot better than he showed last year for the Astros. Navarro made 1 error in 10 games for the Astros last season while showing good range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHORTSTOPS IN 2011: B-

The Astros have re-signed 27-year old righty reliever Alberto Arias to a 1-year deal. Arias missed all of last season due to surgery on his right shoulder. Arias pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Astros back in 2009 and he was 2-1 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He has now pitched in 63 games (2 starts) in parts of three years in the majors and he is 4-2 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. This was a nice low risk move for the Astros as Arias pitched pretty well for them in 2009.

UPDATE: (4/2/2011) - The Astros have placed Alberto Arias on the 15-day disabled list to start this year as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery.

The Astros signed 31-year old righty swinging Bill Hall to take over as the new starting 2B in 2011. He played in 119 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 85 of 344 (.247 avg, .772 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 18 homers, 46 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. The Astros will likely have to settle for a batting average under .250 as Hall whiffed an amazing 104 times last season. They probably won’t mind as long as he hits 20-25 homers in 2011 while playing solid defense. Hall made 6 errors in 51 games at 2B for the Red Sox while showing pretty terrible range. The Astros will be hitting him a ton of grounders this spring with the idea of helping him improve defensively.

30-year old Jeff Keppinger will miss at least the first month of the 2011 season after foot surgery. Keppinger played in 137 games for the Astros last season and he was 148 of 514 (.288 avg, .744 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 6 homers, 59 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Keppinger is a very solid contact hitter as he only whiffed 36 times last season while walking 51 times. Keppinger is a solid defensive player as he only made 6 errors in 126 games at 2B for the Astros last season while showing good range. Keppinger will likely be the Astros’ top utility man after he gets healthy.

26-year old righty swinging Matt Downs will have a decent change of winning a job on the bench this spring due to Keppinger’s injury. Downs played in 40 games for the Astros & Giants last season and he was 21 of 97 (.216 avg, .613 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He is probably a better hitter than he showed last season but I would cap him at around a .250 batting average. He made 1 error in 21 games at 2B last season but he showed terrible range. He’s going to have to improve both offensively and defensively to stick in the show.

28-year old switch hitting Anderson Hernandez also has a good shot to make the Astros if he has a good spring training. Hernandez played in 54 games for the Indians & Astros last season and he was 24 of 109 (.220 avg, .552 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Hernandez made 2 errors at 2B in 11 games there last season while showing poor range. Hernandez is a natural SS, but like Downs, his ceiling is probably hitting around .250 in 2011.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE ASTROS 2B IN 2011: C-

24-year old lefty swinging 1B Brett Wallace came into last season as one of the best prospects in all of baseball. He played in 95 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 116 of 385 (.301 avg, .868 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 18 homers, 61 RBIs and 1 stolen base. With that, Wallace earned a promotion to Houston where he was overmatched. Wallace played in 51 games for the Astros last season and he was 32 of 144 (.222 avg, .615 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers and 13 RBIs. He often looked helpless at the plate as he whiffed 50 times while only walking 8 times last season. Wallace had 3 errors in 48 games at 1B but he should improve defensively. The Astros are depending on Wallace adding some pop to the lineup in 2011. Hopefully it’s not Blind Faith.

27-year old righty swinging Brian Dopirak has yet to play in the majors but he will get a chance to prove himself this spring. He played in 86 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 93 of 339 (.274 avg, .763 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 11 homers and 53 RBIs. The clock is ticking on Dopirak so he needs to step up and prove himself soon so he will get his first shot at the show.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE ASTROS 1B IN 2011: D