With April drawing to a close, some teams are smiling, while others are wondering if their April woes will continue into May.

Let’s take a look at the American league and check the ups and downs from the first month of play.

Angels: Injury to Bartolo Colon beginning to take toll on the staff. Starter Jeff Weaver very erratic. Angels bull pen working smoothly so far. The Halos don’t hit for much power, but find a way to score runs. Club has problems at catcher and first base. Rookies Jeff Mathis and Casey Kotchman soon heading to the bench.A’s: Injuries to key players getting to be a weekly occurrence. Starting pitching has not been as reliable as in the past. Rich Harden’s injury puts more stress on an already overworked ‘pen. Offensive woes made April very uncomfortable for this team. Nick Swisher’s emergence a plus. A’s lucky the division is the weakest in the league, 88 wins might be enough.

Rangers: Right handed sluggers Phil Nevin and Kevin Mench are on the top of their game. Unfortunately for manager Buck Showalter his pitchers still present a nightly adventure. If you have an extra closer give Buck a call.

Mariners: Set up man Rafael Soriano is back throwing rockets in the eighth inning. Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and Ichiro aren’t hitting. Until they do, Mike Hargrove remains the leading candidate to be the first manager fired in the AL.

White Sox: Jim Thome is back. The slugging first baseman is carrying the Sox offense. Jose Contreras leads the best starting rotation in baseball. Closer Bobby Jenks looks way out of shape, but gets the job done. Sox look awfully good.

Indians: Big concern with the bull pen, too many injuries. Ben Broussard and Eduardo Perez are tearing the cover off the ball as the Tribe’s first base platoon. Pitcher CC Sabathia’s muscle pull upset the starting rotation. Jake Westbrook has been hit hard, but Cliff Lee has been outstanding.

Tigers: Most pleasant surprise in the league. Rookie pitchers Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya show they belong in the majors. Starters Mike Maroth and Nate Robertson throwing zeroes almost every time on the hill. First baseman Chris Shelton is a top candidate for player of the month. Tigers still need some real punch in the middle of the line up, but Jim Leyland has this team playing excellent baseball.

Twins: Offense still in hibernation. Disturbing to see how starters Brad Radke and Carlos Silva are getting raked. Closer Joe Nathan was only bright spot in the April.

Kansas City: Couldn’t be any worse. Royals are starting to pitch a little better, but Albert Pujols has hit more homers than the whole KC team.

Yankees: When the hitters get loose there isn’t a more dangerous line up in the AL. Hideki Matsui in a month long funk. Starting pitching looks better each week. Righty Mike Mussina off to his best start in years.

Toronto: Outfielders Alex Rios and Vernon Wells crushing the ball. Not getting production from middle infielders Aaron Hill and Russ Adams. This team can hit. AJ Burnett injury could be season long problem. Good first month for the Blue Jays. Pitching still iffy.

Orioles: Miguel Tejada might be a pain in the neck to management, but he is having a fabulous first month. Chris Ray is a big league closer. Leo Mazzone’s pitchers are showing signs of coming around. Starter Kris Benson is a nice surprise too, must be getting along with Anna.

Red Sox: Manny is still being Manny. The enigmatic outfielder has yet to break loose. Curt Schilling, Jon Papelbon, Josh Beckett, and David Ortiz have carried the club the first month. Mark Loretta’s hitting woes are a concern. Still need a dependable center fielder.

Tampa Bay: Former Giant Tyler Walker, who couldn’t get an out in the NL, got a save in his first game for the Rays. That says it all. The team hits occasionally, but oh that pitching.

With five months to go who knows what we’ll see in May?

That’s baseball!