Angels prospect Dana soaking up all he can down the stretch

DENVER -- Want to know just how impressed the Angels are with Caden Dana? Just ask one of the game's most established starting pitchers.

"He's been awesome," teammate Kyle Hendricks said. "To be that young and be where he's at mentally and the things he's trying to learn, he's asking all the right questions. He's in the right places, he's such a hard worker. There is so much in front of him and his career, [I'm] so excited for that. He's really taking advantage of his opportunity."

A glance at Dana's numbers -- a 6.39 ERA in six appearances (four starts) this season -- might suggest otherwise in a small sample, but the 21-year-old right-hander has turned heads by displaying a demeanor and work ethic beyond his years. It's why the Angels' No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, has earned an opportunity to prove himself in the rotation down the stretch.

Dana backed up Hendricks' high praise on Sunday at Coors Field, limiting the Rockies to two runs off three hits over six solid innings in the Halos' 3-1 loss to close out their final road trip of the season. Dana went blow-for-blow with Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland in a rare pitchers' duel at Coors, as the Angels' bats were unable to muster much support to back up Dana.

Outside of a troublesome second inning that featured three walks, Dana mostly held the Rockies in check, with a Blaine Crim fourth-inning solo home run proving to be the only real blemish on Dana's final line. It was his second career quality start and his first since his MLB debut on Sept. 1, 2024, against the Mariners.

"I think the adjustments I made early on [helped]," Dana said. "The second inning was a long inning and I got out of the zone. Making those adjustments to get back in it and start pitching more competitively was a game changer."

Injuries to the Halos' pitching staff over the final month -- namely to Tyler Anderson (left oblique strain) and José Soriano (right forearm contusion) -- have effectively opened up opportunities for the Angels' young stable of arms in the Minors to showcase themselves with the big league club in September.

Dana is at the center of that.

After entering the year appearing to have an outside chance of securing a spot in the Angels' Opening Day rotation, Dana has endured an up-and-down 2025 campaign that has featured a month-long hiatus due to arm fatigue amid three separate stints in Anaheim. The results in Triple-A Salt Lake were inconsistent, with a 5.93 ERA over 82 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League -- a far cry from the 2.52 ERA he produced in 23 starts with Double-A Rocket City last season.

Now, Dana finds himself in the big leagues gaining valuable experience with a club focused on developing for the future. He's soaking in as much information and advice as he can from others around him.

"They all have their own way of keeping things simple," Dana said. "Those little conversations go a long way. Using those -- taking the bits and pieces that coordinate to my game -- and then going from there."

In preparation for his start against the Rockies, Dana sought out Hendricks, who twirled six scoreless innings against Colorado in his 300th career start on Saturday night. The Professor was more than happy to offer up some pointers, and Dana channeled that wisdom into Sunday's start.

Despite the three free passes in the second, Dana managed to make it through the frame allowing only one run on a Kyle Karros sacrifice fly. From there, Dana retired 11 of the final 14 men he faced, pitching around a leadoff single by Ezequiel Tovar in the sixth to end his day.

Dana has had similar conversations with other veteran members of the Angels' staff, too. And beyond the willingness to learn from others, the talent is undeniable, even if the results to this point have been mixed.

"We have to remember how young he is, too," Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said. "Not get caught up in the fact that he's not going to be perfect every time out. He's going to have to go through growing pains like everyone else who comes up here, and he's doing a good job of that."

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Dana plans to continue learning from the expertise surrounding him as much as he can to improve himself. If he can do that, and pitch the way he did on Sunday, the Angels will feel good about the state of their rotation moving forward.

"Kyle Hendricks just had his 300th career start, [Yusei] Kikuchi just had his 1,000th strikeout," Dana said. "Having those guys -- the amount that they've pitched at this level -- there's nothing I can't learn from them. It's a lot of value. I know most of our guys are young, but having guys who have been here on our staff helps a lot."