Angels send down top prospect Caden Dana after 2 straight rough starts

Dana, 20, won his first major league start, but he allowed 10 runs in the next two. Manager Ron Washington says they don't want Dana “out there getting negative vibes about his outings when they’re not going the way he wanted them to go.”

Sep 17, 2024 - 01:00

Angels send down top prospect Caden Dana after 2 straight rough starts

ANAHEIM — Caden Dana is going to have to wait until next year to show that he’s better than the 10.45 ERA he had after three starts in the major leagues.

The Angels announced on Monday that they optioned Dana, ending the season for the 20-year-old right-hander.

“He had a long year and we don’t want him out there getting negative vibes about his outings when they’re not going the way he wanted them to go,” Manager Ron Washington said. “So we just felt like we need to go ahead and take it away from him.”

The Angels’ top prospect, Dana was promoted to the majors from Double-A. He became the youngest pitcher to start a game for the Angels in more than 50 years when he pitched on Sept. 1 against the Seattle Mariners. He went six innings and gave up two runs in that game, picking up a victory.

In the two subsequent starts, though, he gave up 10 runs in 4⅓ innings.

Dana’s final two starts would have been against the same teams that he just faced, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. He said on Sunday that he was “excited to show them my best stuff, which they haven’t seen yet.”

Washington suggested on Monday that Dana is “not as his best because of the year he’s had and the amount of work that he’s put in.”

Including the 23 starts he made at Double-A Rocket City, Dana has pitched 145⅔ innings this season, which was just his second full professional season after he was drafted in 2022. He pitched 68⅓ innings last season.

“He took it like a pro,” Washington said. “He knows what we are doing is in his best interest. He’s a young baby. He’s following our lead. We decided to shut him down, and that was the end of that.”

The Angels recalled left-hander Kenny Rosenberg to take Dana’s spot, but Rosenberg will go into the bullpen.

The Angels will go back to a five-man rotation for the rest of the season, with left-handers Reid Detmers, Tyler Anderson and José Suarez, and right-handers Griffin Canning and Jack Kochanowicz.

NOTES

The Angels moved second baseman Christian Moore to the instructional league after the completion of the Double-A season on Monday. There was speculation that Moore, who was just drafted in July, might be in the majors before the end of this season, but that is now not likely, according to a source. Moore had a .984 OPS in his first 25 professional games. He missed two weeks with a knee injury before returning to action on Saturday for one last Double-A game. …

Outfielder Mickey Moniak was not in the lineup a day after he was hit in the hand by a pitch. The Angels said Moniak was still just day to day, because they hadn’t yet received results of the tests he was to undergo on Monday. …

Outfielder Kevin Pillar, who is out with a left thumb sprain, said it is “100%” that he will be activated before the season is over. Pillar has said he’s leaning toward retiring at the end of the season. …

Infielder Brandon Drury has been doing defensive drills and taking batting practice, but his hamstring injury is still keeping him out of the lineup. He has not played since last Wednesday. Washington said he could pinch-hit on Monday, but he couldn’t run full speed.