The expectations for the Houston Astros this season are beyond low. Most national sportswriters are predicting another worst-in-baseball season and many are suggesting the team, now in the tougher American League West, will make a run at a record setting losing season.

I’m not completely sold.

I don’t think the 2013 Houston Astros are a foregone conclusion. Now, before you bust out the straight jacket and have me committed, hear me out. I don’t think anyone can possibly know what to expect of the Astros this season. Yes, if you look at the roster in attendance at Spring Training you’ll do a lot of  ”who?” and “really?” before you hit a name that you think has long term, big league potential. But there’s a factor that I believe will be more influential than a list of unknown’s on the roster – Bo Porter.

Bo Porter at Spring Training in Kissimmee, Florida

Don’t get me wrong, Bo Porter’s not the second coming, but I think he’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the Houston Astros. Remember last year as we all laughed and groaned and cried as the Astros made silly error after silly error, so much so that the .gifs of their antics were in the running for awards of worst plays on some fan sites?

Of course you remember all of that. What those behaviors and plays come down to is reactions. When the pressure is on, human beings react instinctively, they don’t think, rationalize, weigh the pros and cons and consequences of their actions – they just act. The past few seasons fans have witnessed some really poor actions on the field at Minute Maid Park. The ranting on twitter is comical – the base running errors, the throwing errors, the little league mentality of a major league team.

Not all the name calling has been fair, but some of it was certainly well earned. I expect to do less of that this season. I expect to see fewer silly errors. I hope to never say “little league” and “Astros” in the same sentence. What’s all this expectation and hope riding on? Bo Porter.

I’ll admit it, he charmed me a bit, with his jovial personality and nice-guy smile, Bo Porter knows how to win someone over. But more importantly, Porter’s got good things to say about his approach and why it will be different. I asked him a while back if he’d be addressing those fundamentals that so often failed to produce good reactions in the past few years.

“As a team, we will be prepared differently than they have been prepared in the past.” The way in which Porter conveys thoughts like that one make you just know he’s passionate and believes what he’s saying heart and soul. To listen to him explain the 5 P’s (Proper Preparation Produces Peak Performers) is akin to listening to a Southern Baptist preacher on Sunday morning.

Porter’s hand slaps the table for emphasis, he leans into his statement and enunciates every word. The man means business. And reports from Spring Training camp say he’s hands on, more so than any other manager has been.

All of this makes me smile at the thought process behind Bo Porter’s hiring. I already thought Jeff Luhnow was a pretty bright guy, but his best move thus far may just be the jovial and passionate manager that brings a background of not just baseball knowledge, but a hard core football love as well. When your team is made up of young guns and no names, I think the guy you want leading the pack is someone like Bo, a little bit southern charmer and a little bit old school strict  father. He’ll give you all the love you want, but you better have picked up your room and respected your mother that day. Yes, just what the doctor ordered, indeed.

So if you want to count out the Houston Astros, feel free, but I just can’t do it -not with Bo Porter at the helm.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

I think I’ve been chanting since opening day “pit-ching, pit-ching, pit-ching”. Well, last night at Minute Maid Park, Brett Myers led the Astros with fantastic pitching and the lineup responded to his lead by hitting a season tying high 16 hits to beat the Chicago Cubs 11-2. With this win the Astros now stand at 3-8 for the season.

So What Went Right? Everything!

First, there was Myers who pitched 7 innings allowing 8 hits and only 1 run (a homerun by Colvin). His ERA on the season is now a remarkable 1.77. This is the kind of pitching the Astros need more of! It’s worth noting that that Astros pitchers have been hitting remarkably well and Myers is no exception to that trend. He currently has the highest batting average on the team – .429!

Second, the hitting was outstanding. Where do I even begin? With runners in scoring position the ‘Stros went 9-20 last night, a definite improvement. In the first 2 innings the Astros had 7 hits and 5 runs. They added 2 more runs in the fourth and another 4 in the sixth. The top of the batting order was beyond impressive with Bourn going 2-5 with 4 runs and 1 RBI. He also added 2 more to his stolen base count for the season taking him to 4. Sanchez was an amazing 4-5 with 2 runs, and 2 RBIs and Pence went 3-5 with 1 run and an impressive 4 RBIs, 2 of which were with 2 outs on the board. We expect impressive hitting from those three and they certainly delivered what we’ve been praying to see.

Where we don’t expect amazing hitting but we saw it last night was from our Catcher. Yep, you read that right – Quintero hit 3-5 last night scoring 2 runs. Of those 3 hits, 1 was a double and the other a triple. That’s not something you see every game!

Oh what a night! If only the starting pitchers could all be like Myers. If only the lineup’s bats were always as lively as last night. There are a lot of “if only”s from last night that I’d like to apply to the whole season, but that’s not the way it works. This team’s got to find some footing and it looks like perhaps they are beginning to do just that. A few more nights like last night and they might just surprise us.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Reporter for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Friday’s Home Opener wasn’t what the Astros were hoping for and neither was last night’s loss. It seems they’re getting pretty good at coming out of the gate strong, but their scoring happens early and then fizzles. You can’t build a season on that. Last night they scored 3 runs in the first two innings, another in the 5th and then found themselves struggling as the final four innings ushered in 6 runs for the Marlins and only 1 for the Astros. That kind of play ain’t gonna cut it.

What will be different about today’s game? Probably not a lot. J.A. Happ (15.75 ERA this year) will take the mound for the ‘Stros and hopefully find his pitching groove. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the team will go the way of the pitching. If the pitchers can get the momentum they found during Spring Training, when the bullpen was pitching well and looking good, the Astros have a chance to push through the second half of a game and shut down the scoring frenzy that every team has experienced against them.

The hitting is improving marginally as we’ve seen Towles step it up and Wallace start to look like himself at the plate, however, the power of Carlos Lee and Bill Hall hasn’t been on display at all this season. With runners on base and in scoring position the Astros have only hit one homerun this season (2.67 BA). The boys with strong bats need to come out hitting or it’s going to be a very long season of fans watching lots of their favorite players left on base.

There have been some good surprises, Lee’s string of triples, Norris’ RBIs and run last night, and Towle’s Friday night bonanza. But these infrequent bursts of excitement are quickly put to sleep by the late game implosions.

This afternoon I’ll have “my” home opener as I sit in the stands at Minute Maid Park for the first time this season. I’m looking forward to seeing the new giant video board in action. I’m looking forward to seeing the boys from Houston try to put themselves together as a team again. I’m looking forward to the view from my new seats. I’m looking forward to the excitement that the weeone brings with her to a game and I’m looking forward to spending 3 hours cheering on my hometeam with my daughter and my dad. And if I’m very, very lucky and if all the stars align, I’m looking forward to seeing the Astros get their 1st home W of the season.

There’s still lots of baseball left to play. Let’s go ‘Stros!

*** Today’s Lineup***

Bourn (CF),  Sanchez (SS),  Pence (RF), Lee (LF), Wallace (1B), Hall (2B), Downs (3B), Quintero (C), Happ (P)