21-year old righty swinging 2B Jose Altuve is a little dude as he is only 5′5″, 170 pounds but he carries a big stick. Altuve has been batting second mostly this year and he is really giving the Astros’ offense a nice shot in the arm. Altuve has played in 19 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 28 for 74 (.378 avg, 1.008 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 76 games in his first two years with the Astros and he is 89 of 295 (.302 avg, .745 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 3 homers, 22 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Altuve is going to be a big part of the Astros’ massive rebuilding project in the coming years.

The Astros have placed 25-year old righty starting pitcher Kyle Weiland on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 22nd, due to right shoulder bursitis. Weiland has pitched in 3 games (all starts) for the Astros so far this year and he is 0-3 with a 6.62 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He has given up 24 hits (5 homers) in his first 17 2/3 innings, so he hasn’t been missing many bats. The Astros hope a little time off will help Weiland both physically and mentally.

33-year old lefty starting pitcher Wandy Rodriguez is off to an outstanding start this year for the Astros. He has started 4 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 1-2 with a 1.42 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Rodriguez has only given up 20 hits and walked 6 batters in his first 25 1/3 innings as he has been on his game. Rodriguez has now pitched in 210 games (201 starts) in his first 8 years with the Astros and he is 74-77 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Astros need to start giving Rodriguez some run support moving forward, so he can get some wins.

25-year old lefty swinging CF Jordan Schafer played in 30 games for the Astros last year after he was acquired from the Braves in the Michael Bourn deal, and he was 26 of 106 (.245 avg, .625 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He is off to a rock solid start this year for the Astros. Schafer has played in 17 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 17 of 62 (.274 avg, .762 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. He has whiffed 22 times and that’s way too many, but he has also walked 10 times as he has been getting on base quite a bit at the top of the lineup for the Astros. They hope he can keep up the good work.

26-year old righty starting pitcher Lucas Harrell appears to like it in Houston. Harrell has started 3 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has now pitched in 9 games (5 starts) in his first two years with the Astros and he is 1-2 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Harrell was a longshot to win a job in the starting rotation, but he earned it in spring training and his success there has carried over into the regular season. The Astros hope that Harrell keeps up the good work.

The Astros have released 26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Collin DeLome. DeLome played in 10 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .535 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 0 homers and 1 RBI. He played in 517 games in his six years in the minors for the Astros and he was 457 of 1,809 (.253 avg, .778 OPS) with 280 runs scored, 72 homers, 246 RBIs and 59 stolen bases. This is not much of a loss for the Astros.

21-year old righty starting pitcher Jordan Lyles had it rough last year in his first taste of the majors. Lyles pitched in 20 games (15 starts) for the Astros last year and he was 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. But, he is off to a good start in AAA-ball. Lyles has started 2 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. He has only given up 10 hits and 1 walk in his first 13 innings this year while whiffing 12 batters as he has been impressive. I look for Lyles to work his way back to Houston at some point in 2012.

23-year old switch-hitting shortstop Marwin Gonzalez was snapped off the Cubs over the winter. He has played in 9 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 6 for 24 (.250 avg, .613 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 1 RBI. Gonzalez held his own as the starting shortstop earlier this year when Jed Lowrie started the 2012 season on the D.L. 25-year old righty reliever Rhiner Cruz was taken from the Mets over the winter. He has pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Astros so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He has only given up 4 hits and has yet to walk a batter in his first 4 1/3 innings this year, while whiffing 5 batters. It looks like the Astros really did their homework in preparing for the Rule 5 Draft last winter.

35-year old righty swinging Carlos Lee is now a full-time 1B instead of an outfielder and that should help the wear and tear on his body. Lee has played in 6 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 8 for 22 (.364 avg, 1.007 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. I have a feeling that opposing pitchers are going to start pitching around Carlos Lee a lot until someone starts protecting him in the lineup. Regardless, it looks like Lee is going to put up some solid numbers offensively for the Astros in 2012.

The Astros went 2-1 against the Rockies last weekend as they outscored them 13-10. Wandy Rodriguez, Bud Norris and Lucas Harrell combined to go 1-0 with a 0.89 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP in their first three starts of the season. Brett Myers only pitched in 1 game and he saved it despite giving up a hit and a walk in his 1 scoreless inning of work. The Astros only hit .240 with a .770 OPS last weekend. J.D. Martinez was 4 for 12 (.333 avg, 1.000 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs and Carlos Lee was 3 for 12 (.250 avg, .833 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs as they both hit well so far this year. Travis Buck was 2 for 2 off the bench for the Astros last weekend with a double, a triple and a run scored. The Astros will be hosting the 0-3 Atlanta Braves the next few days.