And Now For Something Completely Different...

Well, now for something kind of different. The Astros are bringing up some of their players from Round Rock. Chris Johnson, Jason Castro, and Jason Bourgeois will all be coming up to the big leagues, while journeymen Cory Sullivan, Casey Daigle, and Kevin Cash have been designated for assignment. According to Alyson Footer, Johnson and Castro will be getting most of the playing time at third and catcher respectively. The Astros can really use an infusion of pop at third base, and Johnson has been doing well in Triple A - batting over .325 with an OPS around .930. Outfielder Bourgeois has also been batting well in Round Rock, and will be a good addition to our short bench.

Here are a couple of my pictures of Johnson from Spring Training:

Here's Bourgeois sliding into third with a triple:

And here's Castro batting:

It's especially good timing for getting Castro up here, after Quintero's head bashing in Sunday's game. He ended up with seven stitches in his head, but apparently did not suffer a concussion or worse. I went back and watched the start of the fourth inning, when the Rangers' shortstop, Andres Blanco, whacked Q in the head with a mighty backswing. The blow knocked Q to the ground, where he lay for a few minutes, before walking off the field accompanied by a trainer holding a bloody pad to his head. At least the umpire didn't call catcher interference on him this time.

When the accident took place, the Astros broadcast wasn't even focused on the field. It was one of those in-case-they-get-bored-with-baseball, let's-entertain-them excursions into the stands to interview fans. I really, really hate fan of the day interviews in the middle of an inning, almost as much as the stupid hotdog or President races and all the guessing games on the scoreboard. Some of us actually want to watch the ball game. Anyway, after Quintero was already down on the ground, the broadcasters managed to get the audio away from the babe in the stands. Luckily Q appears to be okay, but having Castro join the team now is timely.

No word on what will happen to Sullivan, Cash, and Daigle. Neither Sullivan or Cash had been much help offensively (although Cash did pitch an inning in relief). Daigle had a few good relief appearances when he first came up, and then went into a tailspin after allowing a grand slam last week against the Yankees. He's given up runs in the last 5 games he's played.

Adding to the youth movement, it looks like Bud Norris will be back with the Astros after one more rehab start in Round Rock on Tuesday. And Chris Sampson is also due to return from the DL this week.

We may not start winning games, but at least we'll have some new guys to look at while we're losing.