Chris Johnson hit his first career grand slam in Saturday's 8-2 victory over the Cardinals. Johnson took advantage of a first-inning mistake pitch by Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia, sending it deep over the left field fence at Minute Maid Park to plate four quick runs. The third baseman suddenly has a respectable .306/.333/.480 batting line this season and may be worth grabbing in mixed fantasy leagues while he's hot.

Chris Johnson went 4-for-4, hit his first two homers and drove in six runs to lead the Astros to an 8-1 win over the Mets on Wednesday. Johnson was hitting a respectable .279 on the season, but that came with no homers and a 24/3 K/BB ratio in 86 at-bats before today. Obviously, it's his best game as a major leaguer to date. He has some value in NL-only leagues as an everyday player, but don't expect him to be a factor in mixed leagues.

Chris Johnson went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base in Monday's loss to the Nationals. He plated two with a single against Stephen Strasburg in the sixth and also had another single on the night. Johnson's big spring has carried over into the start of the season, as he's batting .326 early on. It won't last, but go ahead and play him in NL-only leagues for the time being.

Still hot, Chris Johnson went 3-for-4 and hit his fifth spring homer Saturday against the Yankees. Johnson is up to .364/.375/.745 in 55 at-bats. His lack of strike-zone judgment figures to catch up to him once the games begin to matter, but his power could make him fairly useful in NL-only leagues in the early going.

With Jimmy Paredes optioned to Triple-A, Chris Johnson has won the third base job for the Astros. Johnson vastly outperformed Paredes to win the spot, batting .367/.367/.733 with a pair of home runs. But, while boasting pretty good raw power, Johnson isn't a good bet to hit well enough to retain the job over the long haul. He batted just .251/.291/.378 with seven homers over 378 at-bats for Houston last season.

Chris Johnson doubled in two of his three at-bats Saturday against the Yankees. Johnson is hitting .348 with four doubles and a homer in 23 at-bats. Jimmy Paredes hasn't shown much of anything thus far, so Johnson might be able to win the third base job for the Astros. He'd still be a weak bet in NL-only leagues, though.

Chris Johnson hit a two-run homer Saturday in the Astros' 3-1 win over the Nationals. Johnson was one of the stars of the spring two years ago, when he hit eight homers and drove in 22 runs in 62 at-bats. He'll probably need to do something similar this month to end up as Houston's starting third baseman. He's behind Jimmy Paredes at the moment and he's facing competition from Brett Wallace and Matt Downs as well.

Astros manager Brad Mills considered but ultimately rejected the idea of having Chris Johnson get in some work at first base in winter ball and spring training. Mills decided that Johnson would be best served to focus on third base in preparation of competing for the starting job there with Jimmy Paredes in spring training. "We've talked about putting him on the other side of the diamond at first base taking some ground balls," Mills said. "We don't want to muddy his mind a little bit. Let him go ahead and work at third, work on his hitting, growing, getting better."

Astros recalled 3B Chris Johnson from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The band's getting back together. Johnson was demoted to the minor leagues in late July along with first baseman Brett Wallace after the two fell into disappointing mid-season ruts. They'll both be integrated back into the Houston starting lineup down the stretch in preparation for 2012.

Astros optioned Chris Johnson to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Johnson has an ugly .245/.287/.375 line with just 6 HR over 339 AB in 2011. The Astros will give their former third baseman of the future a chance to regroup in Triple-A, but the chances of him ever becoming an impact player are slim.