At 48-56 (.462) the Astros find themselves 12.5 games behind the Cubs. The pitching staff is not doing their job and neither are some of the position players. The Astros are in great need of some good hitting out fielders.

Darin Erstad is batting .278 form the center field position but only has one steal in three attempts. A center fielder that only has two home runs and 12 RBI's needs to have at least 25 stolen bases. On the other hand Michael Bourn has 33 steals, but is only batting .231. A good young center fielder that could do the trick would be Dernard Span of the Minnesota Twins. He is batting .324 in 34 games. He also has five stolen bases.

Another position that needs addressing is third base. Ty Wigginton has only eight home runs and 23 RBI's from what many people call a power position. Kevin Kouzmanoff would certainly do the job with 14 home runs and 52 RBI's along with a .280 batting average.

Many more problems will show up if the team starts getting hurt. The Astros need to build up depth all around. Brandon Backe, Roy Oswalt, Randy Wolf, Wandy Rodriguez, and Brain Moehler have not been very good.