As an afternoon thunderstorm rumbled across Pioneer Park, the Greeneville Astros crowded in the dugout, waiting for a break in the rain so they could take the field and practice in front of a crowd of season ticket holders who had been invited to the stadium for a Saturday meet-and-greet.

The Astros open the 2008 season Tuesday night with a three-game road series at Kingsport, then return to Pioneer Park for the home opener on Friday against the Danville Braves.

The general public has a chance to meet manager Rodney Linares, his coaches and the team tonight at General Morgan Inn from 5-7 p.m. The "Astros Extravaganza" will be free to the public. The team will be present to sign autographs, and food will be provided.

The Astros will be trying to improve on a disappointing 2007 season when they struggled to a 17-51 record, losing nine of their last 10 games and finishing in the cellar of the Appalachian League's West Division. If the addition of top draft picks means anything, this should be an interesting year as the opening day roster includes a first round pick and a second round choice. In addition, eight players return who were on the roster at the end of last season, plus outfielder Devon Torrence, who departed baseball early last year to play football at Ohio State University.

The team's No. 1 draft pick, catcher Jason Castro of Stanford University, is still playing collegiately in the College World Series. But Houston's second pick of the draft, pitcher Jordan Lyles of Hartsville, S.C., is in Greeneville and obviously looking forward to the start of the campaign.

"It's a nice town," Lyles said of his first impression of Greeneville. "It resembles Hartsville. It's a great ball park, the nicest park I've ever played in."

Lyles is a 6-4, 185 lb. 17-year-old, fresh out of high school. He doesn't appear awe-struck and indicated he wasn't nervous about the big step up from high school to professional baseball.

"I just want to have a couple of good outings here and see what I can do," he said.

Lyles said he did consider going to college after his high school career was over, but being a first round draft choice pretty well made that decision easy.

"I had no expectations, but I had been to Houston and had a work-out there," he said. "I love it out there. I knew the Astros were most interested in me, and I was happy they drafted me."

Lyles said he had never played baseball in Tennessee before, although he had visited the mountains of East Tennessee with his friends from Hartsville.

"I didn't expect a ball park like this one in rookie ball," he said with a smile.

Lyles describes himself as a "location pitcher."

"Definitely not a power pitcher," he said. "I like to work the ball inside, outside, hit the location and throw the off-speed stuff at any time in the count."

Lyles was the 38th player chosen in the June draft. The 56th player chosen, outfielder Jay Austin of Atlanta, was Houston's second round pick and is also in Greeneville. They also have their ninth round pick, pitcher Luis Cruz, a 27th round pick in pitcher Nathan Pettus, a 28th round pick in pitcher Zachary Grimmett, a 35th round pick in catcher Rene Garcia, and a 47th rounder in outfielder Nathan Metroka.

Returnees from last year include pitchers David Dinelli, Kyle Greenwalt, Arcenio Leon and Brian Wabick (who was not present Saturday after returning home to Illinois after a death in the family); catcher Pedro Gonzalez; infielders Albert Cartwright and Kyle Miller; and outfielders Chris Turner and Devon Torrence.