Caden Dana Could Be Next On Angels’ Fast Track
Caden Dana admitted after throwing two hitless innings with three strikeouts and one walk in the Angels’ Spring Breakout game against the Dodgers that he is getting tired of one particular comparison point.
“Yeah, too much,” the 20-year-old righthander said when asked by a television interviewer how often he hears the comparison to Noah Syndergaard. “It’s every day. I hear it a lot.”
Dana could put an end to it if he trimmed his shoulder-length blond hair, dropped 25 pounds from his sturdy 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame and stopped blowing fastballs by hitters the way Syndergaard once did.
But many of the qualities that made Syndergaard a rising star a decade ago were replicated this spring by Dana, an 11th-round pick in 2022 out of high school in New Jersey. So why would “Baby Thor” want to mess with that?
Dana impressed Angels coaches in his first big league camp with his maturity, mound presence and stuff, which features a swing-and-miss fastball that sits 93-95 mph and touches 97, a mid-80s slider with depth and a looping mid-70s curve.
“Going to big league camp was a big learning experience for me,” Dana said in the television interview. “There’s a lot of knowledge in that locker room. I was able to pick the brains of a lot of veterans and learn.”
Dana signed for $1,497,500, a record for a player drafted after the 10th round. He made 14 starts for Low-A Inland Empire and High-A Tri-City last season, posting a 3.56 ERA with 89 strikeouts and 30 walks in 68.1 innings.
The Angels have aggressively promoted their top prospects. They called up shortstop Zach Neto nine months after he was drafted out of Campbell and first baseman Nolan Schanuel just 40 days after he was drafted out of Florida Atlantic.
Lefthander Reid Detmers and righthander Chase Silseth spent minimal time in the minor leagues. If Dana reaches Double-A by this summer as expected, could he be in position to make a similar jump?
“One thing about this organization, if (a player) has proven it, age and your experience doesn’t matter,” Angels manager Ron Washington said this spring. “If you’re able to get outs is what matters.”
