The Angels introduced that pitching prospect Caden Dana is scheduled to begin Sunday’s sport towards 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 can even promote left-hander Samuel Aldegheri, per Jeff Passan of ESPN on X, with Aldegheri anticipated to pitch Friday. Like Dana, Aldegheri just isn’t on the 40-man roster and the membership should make corresponding strikes for him.
Dana, now 22, went to Don Bosco Preparatory Excessive College in Ramsey, New Jersey. Baseball America ranked him because the #76 participant out there within the 2022 draft. Although he had not but turned 19 years outdated on the time, BA famous that his fastball was already hitting the mid-90s. They recommended he could possibly be off the board within the first two rounds however he lingered unsigned far later than that because of signability considerations associated to his dedication to Kentucky.
The Angels finally took him within the eleventh spherical, 328th general. 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 short skilled debut within the months following that draft choice however bought a extra correct debut in 2023. He made 14 begins final 12 months between Single-A and Excessive-A, tossing 68 1/3 innings whereas permitting 3.56 earned runs per 9. His 10.7% stroll price 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 price and seven.3% stroll price.
These robust outcomes have vaulted him onto prime prospect lists. BA at present has him within the #92 spot general whereas MLB Pipeline has him 74th. FanGraphs lists him simply exterior the highest 100. All retailers lists his slider as his greatest secondary pitch, adopted by his curveball after which his changeup. Now the Halos will launch him as much as the massive leagues, skipping over the Triple-A stage solely.
The Angels have arguably been essentially the most aggressive membership when it comes to selling prospects in recent times and that is one more knowledge 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 massive leagues by Could of 2023. Final 12 months’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 12 months 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 appreciated him sufficient to accumulate him within the deadline commerce that despatched Carlos Estévez the opposite method.
Between the 2 golf equipment, Aldegheri has made 19 begins this 12 months between Excessive-A and Double-A. He has thrown 95 1/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 33.5% strikeout price and 10.3% stroll price. He’s not as extremely considered Dana however has raised his inventory. BA at present 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 supplied an analogous profile in placing him at #5 within the system, whereas MLB Pipeline has him within the #8 slot.
Extra to come back.
