Los Angeles Angels' Biggest Storylines to Follow at the Start of 2015

The MLB season is already officially underway. The Cubs and Cardinals got things started Sunday night on ESPN 2. But everyone knows the baseball season's real start is during daytime hours. Opening Day is Monday, one of the few unofficial sports holidays.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim get their season started in the afternoon against Felix Hernandez and Seattle. These two teams will likely battle to the season's end for the AL West division title. The Mariners are much improved, and Los Angeles has a belt to defend.

As the season gets going, there are a few major storylines for the Angels that are worth keeping an eye on. These are the things that will foreshadow (or explain) how L.A.'s season will transpire. Nothing is written in stone yet, which is what makes this the perfect time to look ahead.

Second Base

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Howie Kendrick is no longer a member of the Angels. For the first time since 2005, L.A. enters without the services of Kendrick in the middle infield. In his stead will be Johnny Giavotella, at least for now.

Giavotella was given the starting second baseman job out of spring over the likes of Josh Rutledge and Grant Green. The four-year veteran is a soft-hitting former Kansas City Royal. He has a putrid .612 career OPS and just 437 regular-season at-bats to his name.

His defense isn't a reason for him to garner 600 ABs either. According to Baseball-Reference, Giavotella has generated minus-0.4 defensive WAR for his career.

So how long does he last in the everyday lineup? How long until Rutledge gets a call-up from Triple-A? How long until Los Angeles regrets dealing away Kendrick without having a suitable replacement, or does it already?

For a team that should be deep on offense, perhaps a second baseman with a good glove and smart baserunning skills will find his fit on this roster, and that will be enough. But Giavotella hasn't proven he is even that talented yet.

Josh Hamilton

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Josh Hamilton did not get suspended, much to the surprise of many, including Los Angeles' own general manager. He will still be starting the year off the active roster and on the disabled list, but the question remains about what L.A. will do with him upon his healthy return.

Based on Jerry Dipoto's recent thoughts, it certainly seems as though the team would be happier to have the storyline that is Hamilton removed for them. But that is not going to happen.

It would be easy to fall back on his shoulder surgery combined with his poor performance in recent seasons and just mark Hamilton off as a zero for this season. After all, he's not set to be healthy before May anyway.

But the longer he remains away from the team, the more awkward the situation becomes and the bigger distraction it is. When healthy, Hamilton is a monster at the plate. But with his most recent off-field issue, is it fair to even guess that that man will never return?

That's just the point. If this were a lesser player, he likely could have been released by now or at least forgotten about. Because it's Hamilton and because we have all been privy to his heights, it's impossible to simply move on, even if Los Angeles wishes we all would.

Starting Pitching

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Garrett Richards is going to start the season on the DL. This isn't the end of the world, but it's certainly not ideal to have a team's best pitcher begin on the sidelines.

The bigger problem, and something that will be a concern even upon Richards' return, is the talent and depth of the starting rotation as a whole. Andrew Heaney, the team's big offseason acquisition, is starting the year in the minors. He is likely to be called up when the schedule means L.A. needs a fifth starter, but even so, a start a level below is not how things were drawn up.

Outside of Heaney, the rotation is filled with large question marks.

What type of Jered Weaver will the team get? The one who won 18 games or the one who finished the season with his highest WHIP since 2009 and worst strikeout/walk rate since 2007? Yes, both of those performances were Weaver in 2014, which just goes to show that he's not the sure thing he used to be.

What C.J. Wilson will the team get? Does Wilson even have 200-strikeout and 1.18-WHIP potential in his arsenal anymore like he did in 2011?

What Matt Shoemaker can the team expect? Returning from injury, can he realistically replicate what he accomplished in 2014, or is regression unavoidable?

And those questions are all just from the healthy, sure-thing starters. Pitching is going to be a concern for this squad all season.

Mike Trout

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Last season, Mike Trout finished with by far the worst batting average and on-base percentage of his career while seeing his steals total plummet for the third straight season. Oh, he also won the league MVP last season.

The incredible thing about Trout is that he's so good his down years are better than everyone else's best.

Trout wasn't actually very "down" last year. He was just so incredible the two years prior, some statistics were bound to fall as he continued to play. The only way he could have remained at that peak would have been to retire after year two.

As Trout enters his age-23 season, the sky remains the limit, which makes him a storyline in and of himself, even if there is nothing new to report.

Will he continue to slow down on the basepaths but pick up even more power production? Will he balance out his performance? Will he get his strikeouts back down and maybe draw more walks than Ks this year? Will he grab 400 total bases? Really, anything is in play with Trout.

He is clearly the best player in baseball. He should also be the face of the sport, but because his top-notch production is almost boring in its excellence, he remains sort of under the radar nationally.

"Other" Corner Bats

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What do the Angels actually have in their non-Trout, non-Hamilton, non-Albert Pujols outfielders and corner batters? This group includes Kole Calhoun, C.J. Cron, David Freese and Matt Joyce.

At least to start the year, or perhaps depending on matchup, all four are expected to start. And all four are talented hitters with strengths and weaknesses. It will fall on Mike Scioscia to balance each player's talents, platoon splits, playing time and everything else. This won't be easy to pull off.

That's primarily because each guy has questions about his expected production. Calhoun is superb when healthy. Can he stay healthy and get over 600 at-bats? Also, will he run at least a little more than he's shown thus far in his career?

Cron has just half of a season under his belt in the majors. Was that enough to know what Los Angeles actually has in him? The extra-base hits were lovely; the lack of walks not so much. As an everyday DH, he will need to get on base at a higher clip.

Freese and Joyce are players who have shown spots of superb production but haven't put together long enough stretches of that success. Freese has a heavy split during his career, producing much better against left-handers. Joyce is a mirror image, performing horribly against lefties during his career but being a serviceable major leaguer against right-handers.

It will be fascinating to see how Scioscia balances everyone's plate appearances, especially if a couple of guys struggle or, just as likely, hit like they aren't expected to in a good way. Will Coach abandon a plan for either scenario?