The Astros have placed 27-year old lefty swinging shortstop Jed Lowrie on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 29th due to a sprained right thumb. Lowrie played in 88 games for he Red Sox last year and he was 78 of 309 (.252 avg, .685 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 256 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 204 of 808 (.252 avg, .732 OPS) with 110 runs scored, 19 homers, 117 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Lowrie was going to be the starting shortstop for the Astros and he will get his job back when he gets healthy. Rule 5 Draft Pick Marwin Gonzalez and Brian Bixler are going to share SS while Lowrie is out of action.