2017 was wildly different from the half-decade preceding it. It was the first time since 2012 that Mike Trout would not play a full season. A painful slide into second base took him out of the game for what was expected to be 6-8 weeks, and that was it for the Halos—every fan thought, anyway. The Angels would play some pretty poor baseball down the stretch, but were in the running for the Wild Card most of the season.
This unexpected success left many of us with an expectation for a better season in 2018.