Phenom pitcher Caden Dana, formerly of Montgomery, is headed back to the majors.
Dana, 21, was called up from Triple-A by the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. Dana will pitch out of the bullpen for the Angels, something he has done just once in his professional baseball career, on April 4th of this year with the Angels. He was later sent down to Triple-A.
Dana, Los Angeles’s top prospect, made his major league debut last September, pitching six strong innings to lead the Angels to a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners. He became the youngest pitcher in Angels history to win his major league debut and was their youngest starting pitcher since Frank Tanana took the mound more than 50 years ago.
Dana was called up to Los Angeles last fall after lighting it up for the Angels’ Class AA affiliate, the Rocket City (Ala.) Trash Pandas. In 23 starts with Rocket City, he went 9-7 with a 2.52 ERA, striking out 147 batters in 135.2 innings. Dana led the Southern League in strikeouts, innings pitched, batting average against, and WHIP.
In three starts for the Angels last year, Dana went 1-2 with a 9.58 ERA. Dana was selected in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, N.J. He signed for a bonus of $1.5 million, a record for a player drafted after the 10th round.
The Angels begin a three-game series with the Yankees on Monday.