In short, nearly everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, leading to the LA Angels finishing fourth in the division with 74 wins. However, all of the dysfunction gave numerous players the opportunity prove that they can be valuable contributors going forward, and a few did just that.
Because catcher Geovany Soto dealt with injuries all year long, Jett Bandy was forced to step up in his absence, and he filled in rather nicely. In 30 games from May through July, the 26-year-old rookie hit .281 with a .762 OPS. However, his offensive production fell off considerably following a scorching July, though that isn’t too surprising, as many catchers see their offensive numbers decline as the season wears on, especially rookies who aren’t used to catching as many innings as Bandy did.