The astros may not have much of a chance this year but I certainly think they will be more fun to watch this year. If Altuve does get some walks this year, his ability at the plate will go through the roof. I know we all remember CJ coming out and saying that he plans on having a great season, so far in spring training I have no reason to doubt him. We have to be excited to see what Castro, Wallace, and Schafer can do. We hope to see JD Martinez take the next step, and we get to watch the last part of Carlos' career(I know most want to trade him, but we arent going to get anything back so lets just enjoy his clumsy 20HR and 90RBI.) I think out of the hitters we have I want to see Lowrie and Boogey the most. I am dying to see what their potential is.

For pitching we will see meyers, Wandy, and hopefully Lyon for half the season or less. But we also get to see if Happ is going to be decent, and what kind of pitchers Harrell/Weiland/Lyles are going to be.I am also anxious to see how well Carpenter and Lopez are going to pitch out of the bullpen.

And why not be excited about the bench, after all next year we will need a DH there is a good chance one of our bench guys get a starting job a year from now. We all want to see Downs continue to be the clutch pinch hitter with power that he was last year. Wallace will probably be coming off the bench and who ever looses the 3B job unless they get sent down to AAA. I am also happy to watch Snyder on the bench(or starting). He is born and raised in Houston and went to U of H, lets be happy we have a player who wanted to play here before he came here.

Lastly we actually have players to watch in the Minors. we may not have the most talent in the minor's system. But keeping up with Cossart, Lyles, Singleton, Deshields, and Springer will keep me busy enough. Not to mention the fact that we have the #1 pick, and we will have loads of discussion as to why we should take the high school prospect and not Appel.

The next few years may not be easy as die hard Stros fans, but hopefully we can always say "At least it isnt as bad as 2011 was."