Caden Lawrence Dana (born December 17, 2003) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB). The Angels selected him in the 11th round of the

2022 MLB draft The 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 M ...

Amateur career

Dana attended

Don Bosco Preparatory High School , motto_translation = To Increase in Knowledge and Grace , accreditation = Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools , rival = Bergen Catholic High School Saint Joseph Regional High School , mascot = , ...

Ramsey, New Jersey Ramsey is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located northwest of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 14,473,college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,47 ...

. He was the New Jersey

Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

his senior year in 2022.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Dana was drafted by the

in the 11th round of the

2022 Major League Baseball Draft The 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 M ...

. Dana forewent his commitment to play for the

and signed with the Angels for $1,497,500, a record-high signing bonus for an 11th-round pick. He netted the second-highest bonus in the Angels' 2022 draft class, only behind first-round pick

Zach Neto Zachary Adam Neto (born January 31, 2001) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Campbell Fighting Camels baseball, Campbell Fighting Camels. H ...

. His brother, Casey, was also drafted by the Angels that year. On August 8, 2022, the Angels assigned Dana to the Rookie-level

Arizona Complex League Angels The Arizona Complex League Angels are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Te ...

. On August 9, he made his professional debut, pitching two innings while allowing one hit and no runs against the ACL Diamondbacks Black. On September 7, the Angels promoted Dana to the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for eac ...

Inland Empire 66ers The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, California, and play at San Manuel Stadium. Franchi ...

of the California League, where he pitched one game. Between the two teams, Dana finished his partial 2022 season with a 0–0 record, 6.48 ERA, and 8 strikeouts in innings. Dana played his first three games of the 2023 season with Inland Empire, compiling a 1–1 record with a 1.20 ERA and 18 strikeouts across 15 innings. On April 25, the Angels promoted him to the

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Tri-City Dust Devils The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home gam ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

. In 11 starts with the team, Dana went 2–4 with a 4.22 ERA and 71 strikeouts across innings. In 2024, Dana received a non-roster invitation to the Angels' big-league

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

camp for the first time. His performance at the camp received positive reviews from the media, such as after his two shutout innings against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

on March 3. The organization promoted him to the Double-A

Rocket City Trash Pandas The Rocket City Trash Pandas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Madison, Alabama, and play their home games at Toyota Field. History In November 20 ...

of the Southern League to begin the 2024 regular season. In late June, Dana entered

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's league-wide top 100 prospects list, the only Angels player with the distinction at the time. He later moved up to 91 on the list and received an invitation to pitch in the 2024

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National Le ...

. By August, he moved up to 74 on the MLB.com ranking, maintaining his organizational top prospect status with first-round draft pick

Christian Moore Christian Moore is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Christian Moore and Owen Seyler were recent college graduates when they were rooming together in 1994. Moore was working on the design of what was at firs ...

entering behind him. In 23 starts with Rocket City through late August, Dana posted a 9–7 record with a 2.52 ERA and 147 strikeouts in innings.

Major leagues

On August 29, 2024, the Angels promoted Dana to the major leagues. When he debuted on September 1, he was 20 years and 259 days old, making him the youngest person to pitch for the Angels since Francisco Rodríguez in 2002 and the youngest starter since

Frank Tanana Frank Daryl Tanana (born July 3, 1953) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher. In a Major League Baseball career that stretched from 1973 to 1993, he pitched for the California Angels, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, ...

in 1973. In the game, Dana gave up two runs over six innings with four strikeouts, earning a

win Win or WIN may refer to: * A victory Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), a 2121 novel by Harlan Coben * WIN (pacifist magazine), published by the War Resisters League * WIN (wrest ...

against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. He became the youngest Angels pitcher to record a win in a debut. In 3 starts during his rookie campaign, Dana struggled to a 1-2 record and 9.58 ERA with 8 strikeouts across innings pitched. Dana was optioned to the Triple-A

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark op ...

to begin the 2025 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dana, Caden 2003 births Living people Arizona Complex League Angels players Baseball players from Orange County, New York Don Bosco Preparatory High School alumni Inland Empire 66ers players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Warwick, New York Rocket City Trash Pandas players Salt Lake Bees players Tri-City Dust Devils players 21st-century American sportsmen