David MacKinnon's name is all over the Trash Pandas record books. The first baseman was the first batter to step to the plate in franchise history on May 5, 2021 at Chattanooga. He began the franchise history by hitting a single off Hunter Greene. MacKinnon later came around to score the first run in Trash Pandas history in that first inning.

The 32nd round draft pick quickly became a fan favorite in the Rocket City for his tremendous play on the diamond and his attitude off the field. MacKinnon was the Trash Pandas' most consistent player in their inaugural season, hitting .285 with 13 home runs and 65 RBI over 99 games, including the first walk-off in Trash Pandas history, a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 13th inning on May 16 against Chattanooga. He continued the torrid pace in June with a .377 average in 21 games to be named the Double-A South Player of the Month, the first Trash Pandas player to win a monthly award. In July 2021, MacKinnon sat down to talk about his journey from the University of Hartford to the Rocket City.

However, that journey wasn't finished. After spending the entire 2021 season with Rocket City, MacKinnon began 2022 with Triple-A Salt Lake and crushed the ball for the Bees. On June 18, 2022, he was promoted to the Angels for the first time. Four days later on June 22, MacKinnon became the first former Trash Pandas player to record a Major League hit with his first career knock, an RBI single against Kansas City.

He appeared in 16 total games for the Angels before returning to Salt Lake. On August 5, he was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics and split the rest of the season between the A's and Triple-A Las Vegas. Heading into the 2023 season, he signed with the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

California born and raised, Ryan Aguilar thought his career was over in 2021 after a disappointing season with Double-A Biloxi led to his release by the Milwaukee Brewers. Needing one more chance, Aguilar got one from the Angels with a minor league contract and an invitation to spring training in 2022.

Assigned to the Trash Pandas to start the season, Aguilar struggled, batting .175 in April. But in the middle of the season, he regained his form to change the course of his career. On July 2, he took a career-high five walks and scored three runs in a win at Tennessee. The patient approach at the plate proved to be key, For the month of July, he was third in the Southern League with a .344 batting average. In August, he was even better, hitting .360 with three home runs, 15 RBI, and 18 walks over 16 games. His best stretch came in late August, when he was named Southern League Player of the Week on August 21 following six-game series against Chattanooga where he hit .438 with two home runs, six RBI, six runs, and six walks.

That earned him the call to the show on August 26. At the time of his promotion, his .427 on-base percentage led the Southern League and was sixth in all of Double-A while 65 walks ranked third in the league at the time.

Making his MLB debut that night in Toronto, Aguilar took two walks and scored a pair of runs in an Angels win. The next night, he recorded his first MLB hit, a double off Blue Jays All-Star Alek Manoah. Overall, he appeared in seven games for the Angels, who went 5-2 when he played, before returning to finish the season in Rocket City.

Originally a 16-year-old international free agent signing by the Atlanta Braves in 2016, Livan Soto later became the heart of the 2022 Rocket City Trash Pandas on his way to the big leagues.

After joining the Angels in 2018, Soto worked his way up to Rocket City for the first time late in the 2021 season, appearing in 12 games for the Trash Pandas to finish the season in his first taste of the Double-A level. Soto returned to the Trash Pandas to start the 2022 season and was one of the top performers in the Southern League, leading the Trash Pandas to the playoffs.

In 2022, Soto recorded three hitting streaks of 10 games or more, reached base in 10 straight plate appearances from July 8-10, and ranked among the Southern League leaders in hits (2nd, 128), batting average (3rd, .281), walks (7th, 71), and runs (T-9th, 69). His 128 hits marked a new career-high and a franchise record for Rocket City.

He was at his best in mid-July, earning Southern League Player of the Week honors on July 10, his first career weekly award. A fan favorite on and off the field, Soto often delivered when the Trash Pandas needed it most, both at the plate and in the field.

On September 17, Soto got the call directly to Los Angeles and joined the Angels for the final stretch of the season. The next day, Soto made his first start and was stellar, hitting his first Major League home run for his first MLB hit in an Angels win over Colorado. With the big fly, he became the first former Trash Pandas player to hit a Major League home run. Soto was sharp for the rest of the season, hitting .400 with one home run, nine RBI and nine runs scored over 18 games.

Brendon Davis had a career season in 2021. It included a brief but exciting stint in the Rocket City, and helped put him on the path to the show.

Signed by the Angels heading into the 2021 season, Davis started off at a torrid pace for High-A Tri-City, hitting a Dust Devils record 14 home runs over 63 games to begin the season, winning High-A West Player of the Week honors twice over the first half of the season to earn a promotion to Rocket City on July 20.

Davis kept up the torrid pace for the Trash Pandas, hitting a home run in each of his first two games with the club and four over his first six games. In 30 games for the Trash Pandas, Davis batted .268 with eight home runs, 18 RBI, and 25 runs scored to earn his second promotion of the season, this time to Triple-A Salt Lake on August 25. He ended the year with another hot streak for the Bees, hitting eight more home runs and batting .333 over 21 games, giving him a career-high 30 home runs and 83 RBI in 124 games between the three levels in the Angels' system. Following the season, he was named an Angels' organizational All-Star by MiLB.com.

Davis returned to Salt Lake in 2022 and hit six home runs over his first 36 games. But on May 20, he was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers and assigned to Triple-A Toledo. With the Mud Hens, Davis hit 14 more home runs for a second consecutive 20 home run season.

That led to a late promotion to Detroit on September 30. He made his MLB debut the next day in Minnesota, becoming the first former Rocket City player to debut for a team besides the Angels. In his second MLB start on October 4 at Seattle, Davis recorded his first MLB hit, a single to left. He appeared in three total games for the TIgers to end the season.

José Marte's stay in the Rocket City was brief, but it also put him on the path to the show. Acquired by the Angels from the Giants in a trade deadline deal in 2021, Marte began his Angels career in the Rocket City. He only pitched in three games for the Trash Pandas during the first week of August, throwing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts behind a blistering fastball that reached over 100 miles an hour and a nasty slider.

That earned him a promotion to Triple-A Salt Lake on August 7. After only four appearances for the Bees, he got the call to join the Angels and made his debut in Cleveland on August 20, throwing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. He made three more appearances for the Angels in 2021 before ending the season in Salt Lake. In 2022, he spent time with both the Angels and Bees, making 11 MLB appearances in his first full season in the Angels organization.

Elvis Peguero entered the Angels organization in a trade deadline deal from the New York Yankees in 2021. He began his tenure with the Halos in Rocket City bullpen. In his second Trash Pandas appearance, he picked up the win on August 4, 2021 at Chattanooga, throwing 1.1 scoreless relief innings with three strikeouts, displaying a fastball that reached 97 miles per hour as well as off-speed pitches with plenty of movement.

Following four appearances with the Trash Pandas, Peguero was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake on August 19 and then to the Angels after only one Triple-A outing. He debuted on August 26, 2021 against Baltimore, becoming the fourth former Trash Pandas player to debut for the Angels. Peguero split the 2022 season between the Angels and Bees, making 13 MLB appearances while also going 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA and five saves for Salt lake.

On November 23, 2022, Peguero was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of the deal that sent outfielder Hunter Renfroe to the Angels.

The first Pitcher of the Year in team history, Cooper Criswell had a season to remember in Rocket City before his first MLB promotion. A member of the inaugural Opening Day roster in 2021, Criswell made 12 starts for the Trash Pandas, going 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA and 85 strikeouts over 70.1 innings.

On June 20, 2021, Criswell became the second Rocket City pitcher to earn a weekly award when he was named Double-A South Pitcher of the Week following a dominant start on June 20 vs. Biloxi, when he tossed 6.2 scoreless innings and recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts in a victory. In his next start, Criswell was equally as sharp, throwing his first career complete game, getting all 27 outs on 101 pitches at Chattanooga on June 22.

He was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake on July 31, 2021 and was sharp in four starts for the Bees, leading to his first MLB promotion on August 27. Criswell got the start for the Angels that night against the Padres in his MLB debut and ultimately took the loss. He ended the season at Salt Lake.

Criswell began the 2022 season on the Injured List with right shoulder soreness and actually made a rehab start for the Trash Pandas on July 13 at Mississippi. Following that start, the Angels placed him on waivers where the Tampa Bay Rays claimed him and optioned him to Triple-A Durham. Criswell returned to the big leagues for his Rays debut on September 12 at Toronto and struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his first MLB strikeout. That would be his only Major League appearance of the season, as he was returned to Durham and finished the season with the Bulls, winning the Triple-A National Championship.

Another member of the inaugural Rocket City rotation, Kyle Tyler was stellar for the Trash Pandas in 2021. The righty from the University of Oklahoma became the first Rocket City pitcher to win a weekly award when he was named Double-A South Pitcher of the Week for the period ending on May 30 following a win over Birmingham where he tossed six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Tyler later threw the first complete game in Trash Pandas history in the second game of a doubleheader on June 20, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning in a seven-inning win over Biloxi.

Tyler ended his Trash Pandas tenure with his first Double-A save on August 4 at Chattanooga, as the Angels began to move him from the rotation to the bullpen. He was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake on August 7, and made five appearances for the Bees before being recalled by the Angels on August 28. He debuted for Los Angeles a week later on September 5 vs. Texas, throwing three scoreless innings. His first three Major League outings were scoreless as he ended the season on the Major League roster.

Heading into the 2022 season, Tyler was placed on waivers by the Angels and found himself in the San Diego Padres' system to start the season. A solid run on the mound with Triple-A El Paso earned him a promotion to the Padres on June 12. In his Padres debut that night, Tyler earned his first MLB win with two scoreless innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He made one more appearance with the Padres and was optioned back to El Paso. The Padres eventually released him in early July, and he finished the season with Triple-A Sacramento in the San Francisco Giants organization.

With the perfect last name for a member of the Trash Pandas, Janson Junk found himself in the Rocket City late in the 2021 season following a deadline deal from the New York Yankees. Sporting a 1.73 ERA at the time of the trade to rank second in all of Minor League Baseball, Junk joined the Trash Pandas in August and struggled in his first three starts, suffering a pair of losses.

He picked up the win in his Toyota Field debut on August 21 vs. Chattanooga, setting the stage for what would prove to be his final Rocket City start on August 27 at Biloxi. That night at MGM Park, he was stellar, retiring the first 24 batters he faced in taking a perfect game to the ninth. The bid for perfection ended in the ninth as Biloxi put three runs on the board, but Junk still earned the win. Less than a week later, Junk became the first player to be called straight up from the Trash Pandas to the Angels, skipping Triple-A entirely in route to his MLB debut on September 5 vs. Texas. He made four September starts for the Angels to finish the season.

Junk spent most of 2022 with Triple-A Salt Lake, making 15 starts. In a brief return to the Angels, Junk picked up his first MLB victory on July 27 at Kansas City, firing 5.0 scoreless innings in a 4-0 Angels win.

On November 23, 2022, Junk, along with fellow former Trash Pandas Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris, were traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for slugging outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

A member of the inaugural Trash Pandas roster, Oliver Ortega was one of a few relievers who Manager Jay Bell called on in critical situations during the 2021 season. With a sizzling fastball that hits triple digits at times, Ortega completed the first shutout in Trash Pandas history on May 13, 2021 vs. Tennessee with a scoreless ninth inning for his first Double-A save.

He went on to record five saves for the Trash Pandas and was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake on July 28 after posting a 0.82 ERA in nine July outings for the Trash Pandas. After a successful month with the Bees in his Triple-A debut, Ortega joined the Angels in September and pitched a scoreless debut with 1.1 clean frames at Petco Park in San Diego on September 8. In the final game of the regular season on October 3 at Seattle, Ortega earned his first MLB win with 1.1 scoreless innings as the Angels eliminated the Mariners from playoff contention.

Ortega split the 2022 season between Los Angeles and Salt Lake and made 27 MLB appearances for the Angels, including his first MLB save on June 26 vs. Seattle with 2.0 scoreless innings to finish a 2-1 win. On January 6, 2023, Ortega was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins.

After seven seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization, southpaw Jhonathan Díaz made a name for himself in the Angels' system in 2021, starting in the Rocket City. Called in from the bullpen on May 5 at Chattanooga, Díaz was the first ever relief pitcher to appear for the Trash Pandas. But he would soon make a name for himself as a starter. In his first Rocket City start on May 13 vs. Tennessee, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning to earn the first ever win by a Trash Pandas starter.

On July 22 vs. Tennessee, he tied a new career-high with 11 strikeouts in the second of what proved to be four straight wins for the Venezuelan southpaw. In his next start on July 29, Díaz threw the first nine-inning complete game in Toyota Field history, defeating Birmingham 3-2. The strong run on the mound led to his first career Triple-A promotion on August 26. After just three outings in Salt Lake, he was promoted again, this time to join the Angels for the stretch run. In his second Major League outing, Diaz was stellar, firing 7.0 brilliant relief innings and allowing just one run to defeat Seattle on September 25, his first MLB win.

Díaz bounced between the Angels and Salt Lake in 2022, making 10 Triple-A starts in addition to four Major League appearances. For the Bees, he was at his best on April 28 at Round Rock, throwing 8.0 innings of one-hit ball. He picked up his only MLB win of the season on May 6 vs. Washington, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings. He is back with the Angels ahead of the 2023 season.