Early career Porter served as the hitting coach for the Class A
Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2005 and manager of the Class A-Advanced
Jamestown Jammers in 2006. Porter served as
Florida Marlins' third base coach and outfield and baserunning instructor from 2007 to 2009.
Arizona Diamondbacks Porter became the Diamondbacks third base coach in 2010, after he declined the Marlins' offer to remain with the organization. Following the dismissal of
manager A. J. Hinch and promotion of bench coach
Kirk Gibson to interim manager in July 2010, Porter was promoted to bench coach. Porter was fired by the Diamondbacks following the 2010 season.
Washington Nationals Porter was a finalist for the
Florida Marlins and
Pittsburgh Pirates managerial positions after the
2010 season. The Marlins position eventually went to Florida's interim manager,
Edwin Rodríguez. Porter was hired by the Washington Nationals on November 2, 2010, as their new third base coach, taking over from
Pat Listach, and took himself out of consideration for the Pittsburgh managerial job when he accepted his position with the Nats before the Pirates finished their interview process. On September 6, 2012, Porter was involved in a benches-clearing incident during a game at
Nationals Park in
Washington, D.C., between the Nationals and the
Chicago Cubs. Chicago bench coach
Jamie Quirk was yelling, apparently at Porter, from inside the Cubs dugout, causing Porter to leave his position in the third base coach's box and approach the third-base dugout to confront Quirk. Ultimately, both teams came out onto the field and Quirk was ejected by umpire
Jerry Layne.
Houston Astros On September 27, 2012, Porter was announced as the new manager of the
Houston Astros for the
2013 season, replacing
Brad Mills, who had led the Astros to records of 56–106 and 55–107 in the last two seasons; the Astros had developed a strategy under general manager
Jeff Luhnow to develop the team through high draft picks that required rebuilding the farm system and utilizing players at cost-effective rates, such as
Jose Altuve. Porter was chosen over fellow candidates
Tony DeFrancesco,
Dave Martinez, and
Tim Bogar. Porter was also the first Astros manager to manage the team in the
American League. The Astros won the Opening Day game against the Texas Rangers and then promptly lost six straight games. The win on March 31 was the only time the Astros would be over .500 the whole season, and they finished the season by losing fifteen straight games to go 51–111. The following
season, the Astros were over .500 for two days in the year, starting and ending with their first two wins of the season. By the end of August, they had eclipsed their win total from the past three seasons with 59, and they had their first full month with a winning record for the first time since 2010 in May and August. On September 1, 2014, the Astros fired Porter with the team at a record of 59–79, reportedly due to growing tension between Porter and Luhnow, as Porter did not appreciate perceived challenges to his authority as manager, with Porter stating his gripes at being second-guessed to club owner
Jim Crane. One notable annoyance came with the team bringing
Mark Appel (the top pick of the previous MLB draft by Houston) to throw a July bullpen session in Houston in the presence of the team pitching coach
Brent Strom, which raised objections from Astro players due to perceived special treatment and objections from Porter due to not being notified of the session before it happened. Porter was replaced on an interim basis by
Tom Lawless, who managed the final 24 games of the year that resulted in Houston finishing in fourth place in the division, their first non-last place finish in four years with the help of fresh players such as
Dallas Keuchel and
Chris Carter. Porter was the youngest manager in the majors prior to being fired. Hinch, formerly manager of the Diamondbacks in 2010 while Porter was third base coach, succeeded him as permanent manager of the Astros for the
2015 season.
Atlanta Braves On October 3, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced coaching changes for the
2015 season which included hiring Porter as third base coach, a position which also included outfield and base-running coaching responsibilities. After the
2016 season concluded,
Ron Washington replaced Porter as the Braves' third base coach, and Porter was named a special assistant to Braves general manager
John Coppolella.
Free agent camp On February 8, 2018, the executive director of the
Major League Baseball Players Association,
Tony Clark, announced that the MLBPA would open its first
spring training camp for unemployed MLB players since
1995 because an historically slow free-agent market during the 2017–2018 offseason had left more than 100 MLB free agents unsigned as MLB teams opened their spring training camps for the
2018 season. This "free agent" camp was intended to provide unsigned free agents who wished to attend it with a simulation of a normal spring training experience and allow them to get in shape for the 2018 season while awaiting a contract offer from a team. Porter had approximately one week to assemble a staff, find a baseball facility for the camp, and secure temporary housing for the players attending it. the camp was held at
IMG Academy in
Bradenton,
Florida, with temporary housing in nearby
Sarasota. His first
Nats Xtra broadcast took place on
Opening Day on March 28, 2019.
Los Angeles Angels On November 13, 2023, it was reported that the
Los Angeles Angels would be hiring Porter as their first base coach.
Managerial record ==Personal life==