Why all the stressing out and hand-wringing over the Astros slow start? Sure, they’re behind the, this ain’t good, Texas Rangers. Yeah, Dusty Baker is up to his old odd decisions, like letting Martin Maldonado bat (and striking out) with the bases loaded and the Astros trailing late, and somebody tell Alex Bregman please don’t crash into walls to catch a foul ball with the Astros leading by six runs.

This is the price the Astros are paying for their incredible success over the last six seasons. Every loss is panic button time. You know the numbers, six ALCS, four World Series and two championships. Is it a dynasty? Yes, no? Either way, nobody’s done it better in recent years.

That’s the problem – sustained excellence is boring. Astros fans expect the team to win, and when they don’t, something’s wrong.

Nothing’s wrong. It’s business as usual. The rest of the American League teams are scuffling for a post-season spot. Not to minimize the regular season, all eternal 162 games of it, but the Astros recently have used the regular season to set up their pitching rotation for the playoffs.

Sure the 2023 Astros are a different team and that’s the thing about sports … you never know. All good things do come to an end eventually. But the Astros still have a Hall of Fame manager in Dusty Baker, their trustiest hitter Michael Brantley is on his way back, the greatest player in franchise history Jose Altuve is healing and who knows what’s up with Lance McCullers.

Alex Bregman is not going to hit .197 for the season.

Here’s how different this Astros team is: only one player on the current roster, Alex Bregman, wore an Astros uniform just six years ago when they won the 2017 World Series.

The Astros are young. Only six players on the Astros current 26-man roster had even played their first big league game in 2017. The Astros have six outfielders. The gristled veteran among them is Kyle Tucker. He’s 26. Only one infielder, Jose Abreu, is over 30.

So give the Astros a break and some time to figure this season out.

Charles Dickens wrote a book in 1860 that could have been about the Astros in 2023: Great Expectations.

The most recent baseball dynasty that compares to the current Astros belongs to the New York Yankees from 1996 to 2001 – a six-year run just like the Astros. The Yankees won five ALCS and four championships.

During that stretch, the Yankees won 100 or more games only one season. The Astros have won 100-plus games in four of their last five full seasons. That explains the frustration over 8-9 so far.

Not to worry, the Astros are averaging 37,386 fans per game at Minute Maid Park this season, up more than 4,000 per game over last year when things turned out sort of OK.