5 Biggest Takeaways from the First Month of LA Angels' Season

Through the early stages of May, with a full month of the 2015 MLB season already on the ledger, the Los Angeles Angels are owners of a pedestrian 11-14 record. They have lost three in a row and five of 10...and are in second place in the AL West.

The Texas Rangers were supposed to be bad and are. The same cannot be said of L.A., nor the Seattle Mariners or Oakland A's. The three teams all sit three or more games under .500 heading into May's first full week but were supposed to challenge for playoff spots.

Sitting anywhere within striking distance of .500 in May means a playoff spot is still within reach, although it is hard to continue to ignore what is going on in Houston right now.

The Astros, coming off four horrendous seasons in a row, are tied for the most wins in all of baseball with 18. They have won 10 consecutive ballgames and have a plus-37 run differential, third-best in the sport. Second place isn't so bad for Anaheim. It would be better, though, if they weren't already seven full games out of first.

But the AL West standings are just the tip of the iceberg as far as first-month takeaways go. There is a lot going on with the Angels. Some things are more noteworthy than others. (Newsflash: Mike Trout is good at baseball!) Here are four more takeaways that have dominated L.A.'s early season.

Outfield Pressure

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Josh Hamilton is no longer in the picture for Los Angeles. It seemed foolhardy to send away a player of Hamilton's caliber for zero in return just to be rid of him, especially when considering the depth of the outfield.

Hamilton hasn't been all that good in three years, but the potential at least existed for him to return with something left in the tank. With that option now having moved on to a division rival, left field for the Angels belongs exclusively to Matt Joyce and Collin Cowgill. That is not good news.

Joyce and Cowgill have combined to take 83 of the 89 at-bats by left fielders thus far, and the results have been scary. They have a total of two extra-base hits, four walks and 21 strikeouts. Neither player is hitting above .200. In fact, neither player is slugging above .200 nor has an OBP above .200. It is a horror show.

If Hamilton were due back by June to battle for at-bats, it might've solved the problem or pushed one of the two to get his bat in gear. Instead, the platoon will continue for the foreseeable future, whether either player begins to hit or not.

Slow Lane

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Mike Trout is running more often than last season and already has six steals to his name. Good for him. Bad for him is the fact that all his teammates combined have just four more steals for L.A.

The 10 total steals are bad enough. It puts the team in the bottom third of the league. But while the Mets have 10 steals as well, they have been caught zero times compared to the Angels' seven times caught. Based on steal percentage, L.A. is even closer to the bottom of the league.

And opponents aren't slowing down with this team. The Angels have given up 22 steals thus far, a mark that would be fifth-best in baseball if a club had that total.

For some of the teams down in the bottom third in steals, it has just been, pardon the pun, a slow start. That isn't the case here, though. It's not as if an abundance of speedsters are waiting in the wings. Instead, the team simply has a dearth of capable base stealers.

Other than Erick Aybar and the aforementioned Trout, no one on the roster stole more than five bags last season. It is a team that doesn't run because it can't run, and that isn't likely to change anytime soon.

Approaching Mendoza

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The batting woes of the left fielders have already been touched on, but struggles at the plate have seeped past Joyce and Cowgill in the outfield. Of the top 13 players on the team in at-bats, a staggering 10 of them are batting below .240.

The only regulars hitting comfortably above the Mendoza Line are Trout, Kole Calhoun and Johnny Giavotella.

The news isn't all bad. Aybar seemed to be turning things around a bit during the final week of April. The same goes for C.J. Cron. And Albert Pujols is riding a six-game hitting streak, bringing his season average up to .212.

The team-wide batting slump is making fans anxious. It isn't because the fans are specifically worried about Aybar or Pujols or others finishing the year with averages this low. It is because the Angels have won with their offense. Little offense means little winning for however long the slump lasts.

The Winter of Weaver

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Uh, so...hey, check out this adorable hedgehog! You like it? Are you distracted? Good, because it's time to talk about Jered Weaver.

Weaver has been so bad this year that fans wish he could be labeled as below average; they wish he were up to that level.

He has the sixth-worst ERA in all of baseball among qualified pitchers. He's allowed the second-most hits in the league. His season WHIP puts him in the bottom 25. And his K/9 figure is fifth-worst. With eight home runs allowed and an opponent batting average around .290, Weaver is making every opposing hitter look like Justin Upton.

Nothing has gone right for Weaver.

The days of him being the ace of this staff are obviously gone. It also might be fair to say that the days of him deserving a start every fifth day are also on the way out. His past success gives him a longer leash than most, but another month like April and the leash will be cut.