The Angels introduced that pitching prospect Caden Dana is scheduled to begin Sunday’s recreation in opposition to the Mariners. The membership might want to make corresponding strikes to get him onto each the lively and 40-man rosters. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported the information on on X previous to the official announcement. The membership may also promote left-hander Samuel Aldegheri, per Jeff Passan of ESPN on X, with Aldegheri anticipated to pitch Friday. Like Dana, Aldegheri is just not on the 40-man roster and the membership should make corresponding strikes for him.
Dana, now 22, went to Don Bosco Preparatory Excessive Faculty in Ramsey, New Jersey. Baseball America ranked him because the #76 participant out there within the 2022 draft. Despite the fact that he had not but turned 19 years outdated on the time, BA famous that his fastball was already hitting the mid-90s. They steered he could possibly be off the board within the first two rounds however he lingered unsigned far later than that on account of signability considerations associated to his dedication to Kentucky.
The Angels ultimately took him within the eleventh spherical, 328th total. They gave him a signing bonus of $1,497,500, which was a report for a participant taken after the tenth spherical, per MLB.com. They had been in a position to take action by giving below-slot offers to different gamers they drafted, saving a few of their allotted bonus pool.
Dana made a quick skilled debut within the months following that draft choice however bought a extra correct debut in 2023. He made 14 begins final yr between Single-A and Excessive-A, tossing 68 1/3 innings whereas permitting 3.56 earned runs per 9. His 10.7% stroll charge was a bit on the excessive facet however he additionally struck out 31.7% of batters confronted. Right here in 2024, he has 23 Double-A begins, throwing 135 2/3 innings with a 2.52 ERA, 27.4% strikeout charge and seven.3% stroll charge.
These robust outcomes have vaulted him onto prime prospect lists. BA at the moment has him within the #92 spot total whereas MLB Pipeline has him 74th. FanGraphs lists him simply exterior the highest 100. All shops lists his slider as his finest secondary pitch, adopted by his curveball after which his changeup. Now the Halos will launch him as much as the large leagues, skipping over the Triple-A stage solely.
The Angels have arguably been essentially the most aggressive membership by way of selling prospects in recent times and that is yet one more information level in favor of that evaluation. The primary-round and third-round picks in 2022 had been shortstop Zach Neto and right-hander Ben Joyce, each of whom had been promoted to the large leagues by Might of 2023. Final yr’s prime choose was first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who was within the bigs simply over a month later. Reid Detmers and Chase Silseth had been additionally referred to as up the yr after their draft choice. The hole from draft to debut is barely wider with Dana, however he was chosen out of highschool, whereas all these different had been taken out of school.
It’s additionally an aggressive promotion with Aldegheri, one other 22-year-old, although his path to the majors far been far much less conventional. He was born and raised in Verona, Italy and Matt Gelb of The Athletic profiled his uncommon path to the majors again within the spring.
The Phillies signed him as a part of their 2019 worldwide class, giving him a bonus of $210K. Since then, he has continued to place up robust numbers and put himself on the prospect map, and the Angels preferred him sufficient to amass him within the deadline commerce that despatched Carlos Estévez the opposite means.
Between the 2 golf equipment, Aldegheri has made 19 begins this yr between Excessive-A and Double-A. He has thrown 95 1/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 33.5% strikeout charge and 10.3% stroll charge. He’s not as extremely considered Dana however has raised his inventory. BA at the moment lists him #6 within the Angels’ system, noting that his fastball sits within the low 90s however has slicing and using motion. He enhances it with a slider, curveball and changeup. FanGraphs offered an identical profile in placing him at #5 within the system, whereas MLB Pipeline has him within the #8 slot.
The Angels are out of competition this yr and can use the ultimate few weeks of the season to get a take a look at a few pitchers they hope can be part of their future pitching staffs, which may maybe impression their offseason. Subsequent yr’s rotation initiatives to incorporate Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning, although each are slated totally free company after 2025. Children like Detmers, Silseth, Jack Kochanowicz, José Soriano and others must be within the combine. Patrick Sandoval underwent UCL surgical procedure this summer season however could possibly be an element by late 2025.
Dana and Aldegheri will be capable to get their ft moist on the main league stage however neither will exhaust rookie standing this yr. There are lower than 45 days remaining within the schedule and the membership will certainly not permit them to pitch 50 innings. By conserving them within the rookie bucket going into 2025, the membership will be capable to have prospect promotion incentives on the desk.
To fight service time manipulation, the collective bargaining settlement gives incentives for golf equipment to advertise their prime prospects. If a participant has lower than 60 days of service time and is on two of three prime 100 lists at BA, ESPN or MLB Pipeline, the are PPI-eligible if they’re promoted early sufficient in a season to get a full service yr. If the participant goes on to win Rookie of the Yr, or end within the prime three in MVP or Cy Younger voting throughout their pre-arbitration years, the membership will get an additional draft choose simply after the primary spherical.
That can be extra of an element with Dana, who’s already on two of these three lists, although it’s not less than theoretically doable for Aldegheri to sneak on, particularly if he pitches nicely within the subsequent few weeks. There’s additionally the theoretical risk that he spends all of 2025 on elective task and remains to be a rookie going into 2026.
That can be a secondary concern. The principle aim for the Angels is getting their pitchers acclimated to the large leagues and seeing how their stuff performs in opposition to main league hitters. The membership’s lack of beginning pitching has been an ongoing concern, partially on account of an absence of improvement but additionally on account of an absence of spending. Aside from Anderson, the membership hasn’t signed a free agent beginning pitcher to a multi-year deal since Joe Blanton’s two-year pact in 2012. If Dana or Aldegheri, or each, can flip into viable huge league starters, it could possibly be a giant enhance to the membership within the years to come back.
As talked about, it additionally continues a sample of aggressive promotions. That made a variety of sense when the membership had each Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the roster, because it appeared they had been making an attempt to discover all avenues to place a profitable group round that duo after they had the possibility. Ohtani is now gone however maybe the membership remains to be making an attempt to profit from the Trout period. He has missed important time in recent times on account of accidents and is now 33 years outdated, however he’s beneath contract by 2030. Maybe this can be a signal the membership nonetheless needs to take a shot at contending earlier than Trout will get even older, although that will additionally rely upon how the younger gamers carry out, how the offseason performs out, and different components.
