No one wants to start a season 2-5. That includes the Astros whose sweep at the hands of the Yankees put them in an 0-4 hole to start the season. Even with the series win over the Blue Jays, they head to Arlington to face the world champion Rangers well behind their in-state-slash-division rivals.

With the struggles at Minute Maid Park, maybe they are better off on the road, even if the Rangers ballpark gets the nickname Mimic Maid for its resemblance to the Astros home field. The good news is that it is very early in the season with a LOT of games to go. But, there is more to it than that and some good reasons for optimism if you are an Astros fan.

Starting Pitching

The Astros are currently second in starting pitching ERA in the major leagues and have already thrown two shutouts including a no hitter. Three starters (and two relievers) have 0.00 ERAs including Cristian Javier who looks like he is back after a tough 2023. Even Framber Valdez has recovered from his first game struggles to post a shutout with some devastating stuff. That's great, right? It is, but, don't forget something else.

The Astros are missing essentially four starters from the rotation. Justin Verlander has one of two rehab starts in Sugar Land this Sunday. If all goes well, he could be back with the Astros in about two weeks. Jose Urquidy should begin his rehab in early May. And that doesn't even count Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers, Jr., both of whom are expected back around the middle of the year. This is already a very good starting rotation with plenty of arms set to come back, some sooner than later.

The Bullpen Will Improve

While the bullpen has struggled some early in the year, Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader are all proven arms. All will recover and be good this season. Additionally, Seth Martinez has looked great in his three outings, Rafael Montero has only allowed a solo home run in his three appearances, and Ronel Blanco is likely back to his spot in middle relieve when Verlander returns.

It's also distinctly possible that the Astros acquire another arm during the year. Middle relief is perhaps the easiest type of player to trade for and GM Dana Brown has said they will be aggressive looking for pitching help throughout the season.

Jeremy Peña and Yainer Diaz

If all the Astros did was get the same stuff from everyone who was in the lineup last year but added a better Peña and Diaz for a full season, this would be a juggernaut offensively. As it stands, both have been absolutely outstanding to start the year. Both are batting above .400 with four homers and 10 RBIs between them. Diaz has also walked three times. He walked 11 times all of 2023.

The top four Astros in the lineup make up one of the most feared groups in baseball. If Diaz and Peña continue to hit the ball well and the team gets what it has from Chas McCormick and others, you'd be hard pressed to find a weak spot.

The Top Four Hitters Are Four of the Best in Baseball

Speaking of those first four, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman are just brutal for opposing pitchers. While Bregman has struggled early as is typical for him, Altuve, Alvarez and Tucker have a combined seven homers and 11 RBIs. Alvarez, who had two long balls on Wednesday night, is finally seeing his average begin to creep toward his XBA (expected batting average). He is absolutely crushing baseballs even if quite a few of them ended up as outs early.

When Bregman does finally turn it around, and he will, this is going to be a destructive lineup to face for any pitcher. There is no one you can pitch around.

It's a VERY Long Season

We are just seven games into a 162-game season. There is a ton of baseball left to be played. As much as everyone wanted the Astros to come roaring out of the gate, they have more than enough time to right the ship. They are a notoriously slow starting team and as dramatic as an opening series sweep may be, they are too good to let that go unanswered.