HOUSTON -- The Astros are 0-3 for the first time since 2011 -- the season in which Jose Altuve made his Major League debut. The difference in talent between that team -- a rebuilding club that lost 106 games -- and this year’s is vast, so there’s no reason to believe the ‘24 Astros are going through anything but an early funk.

Still, the first three games of the season have seen a few troubling trends for the Astros, who fell to the Yankees, 5-3, on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park. Oswaldo Cabrera and Juan Soto homered off reliever Bryan Abreu in the seventh to put the Yankees ahead, and Anthony Volpe added a solo shot off Ryan Pressly in the eighth.

“It’s just way too early to be concerned,” said Astros manager Joe Espada, who’s still trying to get his first win. “I have faith in this team. We’re a really good ballclub. Just right now, things are not going our way. We have to do a better job executing on both sides of the ball.”

Here’s a look at what has gone wrong through three games:

1. Bullpen
The Astros’ bullpen has an 8.03 ERA through three games, with a blown lead in each. Houston led, 3-1, going to the seventh inning Saturday, and for the first time it was able to roll out its three-headed monster of Abreu, Pressly and Josh Hader, who’s taking over as closer this year.

Abreu, who wasn’t eligible to pitch in the first two games while he served a suspension handed down in last year's American League Championship Series, allowed two homers and two walks. Cabrera followed a leadoff walk with a homer to right field on a 97 mph fastball, and Soto hit a line-drive shot to left field off a slider. Neither ball traveled more than a Statcast-projected 350 feet.

“[Abreu’s] stuff was coming out pretty good,” Espada said. “It looked like he was missing his spots. He hasn’t pitched in a while, so he did not look as sharp as we’ve seen Bryan Abreu in the past.”

Likelihood it turns around: Pretty likely, assuming the Astros can get more leads and get the ball to Abreu, Pressly and Hader consistently. Houston’s middle relief could be an issue throughout the season after it lost three key relievers to free agency in Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Ryne Stanek, plus Kendall Graveman to a season-ending injury.

2. Batting with runners in scoring position
The Astros are 5-for-31 with runners in scoring position through three games, including 1-for-9 on Saturday. Their only hit with runners at second or third base Saturday was a two-run double by Mauricio Dubón, who made his first start and shot a ball over the head of Soto in right field to score Yainer Diaz and Jeremy Peña in the second.

Alex Bregman led off the sixth inning with a double against Marcus Stroman and wound up being stranded, and Houston didn’t muster a hit against Yankees relievers Ian Hamilton (two scoreless innings) and Clay Holmes (one inning).

“Stroman has four really good pitches that have really good late movement on them,” Bregman said. “He executed really well, especially with runners in scoring position.”

Likelihood it turns around: Extremely likely. There’s too much talent in Houston’s lineup for it not to begin piling up the runs at some point soon.

3. Home blues
Oh, no, not this again. Why can’t the Astros win at home? That was the burning question at the end of last season, when Houston lost all four games at Minute Maid Park in the ALCS and watched the Rangers celebrate advancing to the World Series on its soil.

The last time the Astros lost their first three home games of the season was in 2010, when they started 0-8 overall. They’ve done a bunch of winning at home since, but they have lost 25 of their past 32 games at Minute Maid Park since Aug. 13 of last year, including the postseason.

The Astros went 39-42 at home last season -- despite drawing 3 million fans -- and still managed to win the AL West. The team made changes to the batter’s eye to try to determine why it couldn’t hit as well at home as it did on the road.

Likelihood it turns around: Uh, well... After Sunday’s finale against the Yankees, the Blue Jays (Monday through Wednesday), Rangers (April 12-14) and Braves (April 15-17) are the next three teams to come to Minute Maid Park. We’ll get back to you on that one.