The month of September provides a chance for major league baseball teams to call up players from their farm systems to the major league level to make their impact. One of those prospects who was given a chance at the big league level, was Angels top prospect Caden Dana. In his debut start with the Angels, the 20-year old right hander broke franchise records. Dana became the youngest Angels player to win their debut start as well as becoming the youngest player to get a win for the Angels since 1973.
Dana’s drawn comparisons from many to legendary Angels pitcher Jered Weaver, and was even given Weaver’s previous number of 36. The Angels expect Dana to be a front of the line starter in this rotation for years to come, and for that reason earns the privilege of wearing such an important number in Angels history.
In his debut start against the Seattle Mariners, Dana looked incredibly poised for a 20-year old. He would end up putting together a quality start, going a strong six innings on 95 pitches, giving up only two hits and striking out four.
The main critique for Dana’s standout performance is the control. It’s very natural and excusable for a 20-year old in his major league debut to have issues with control and walks. Dana walked four in his debut, while throwing 54 strikes among his 95 total pitches. A missed spot against Luke Raley resulted in a home run, but other than some control issues it was an incredible day for the Angels top prospect.
The start made many fans reminiscent of the 11 years they had with their franchise’s all time best pitcher Jered Weaver. Dana at 6’4’’ stands only a few inches shorter than Weaver who was listed at 6’7’’. The two have roughly the same exact size as well with Dana being listed at 215 pounds, and Weaver at 210 when he was with the Padres at the end of his career.
The frame, physical attributes, and production passes the eye test for Angels fans so far, and there’s other reasons to compare Dana to Weaver. There are similarities in the way that these two pitch. Starting with the pitch mix, both Weaver and Dana have a handful of pitches in their arsenal that are all on the lower end velocity wise.
In the delivery, there’s also small similarities. Dana possesses this leg kick when releasing the baseball, one similar to Jered Weaver. This allows Dana to generate power, and at 6’4” 215 pounds, this should help him generate more velocity on his fastball and other pitches later down the line in his career.
While the similarities between Weaver and Dana are there, the 2022 11th round pick has big expectations to live up to. Weaver in 11 years with the Angels was a three time All-Star, leading the MLB in strikeouts in 2010 with 233, and the American League in wins in 2012 and 2014 with 20 and 18 wins. At just 20-years old however, Dana has the opportunity now to start a long career in the major leagues, and live up to the recent comparisons baseball fans have given him.