2 things going right, 2 things going wrong for youngest Angels starter

Caden Dana has finally rejoined the Angels’ big league rotation after spending the 2025 season mostly in the minor leagues with the occasional relief appearance in the big leagues (to the dismay of media and fans alike). It has been a bag of mixed results for Dana in his two starts, but there are reasons to believe in the Angels’ (arguably) best pitching prospect. 

2 things going wrong for Angels’ Caden Dana 

Dana’s walk rate has improved…but not nearly enough 

In the 2024 season, Dana made three starts and found the strike zone on 45.6 percent of his pitches. That number is up to 47.6 percent this season, but that still is not a high enough number for Dana to find success as a starting pitcher in the big leagues. On top of that, batters are only chasing Dana’s pitches out of the zone 19.2 percent of the time. This has all contributed to Dana walking 11 batters in his 15.2 innings pitched this season (with five of those walks coming in his most recent start). Command issues are what usually lead to Dana having poor starts, as his walked batters create too much traffic for him to control on the bases.

Dana’s fastball is not working

While Dana’s breaking stuff is what got him drafted and put high on prospect rankings coming into the season, every pitcher needs a fastball to survive in the big leagues. And while Dana’s movements and velocity are adequate, hitters have just completely keyed in on it this season, totaling a .448 slugging percentage against the pitch. While he has struck seven batters out using it, it is by far his least effective pitch in the majors. 

2 things working for Dana

Batters are whiffing at a high rate

If there is one thing that’s true about Dana’s game, it is that he strikes batters out. He struck out 13 in his final Triple-A start, and sent nine batters back to the dug out with a K during his most recent start. His changeup has been boom or bust, contributing to six strikeouts while also being hit hard 40% of the time contact is made. Nevertheless, all four of his pitches have been used to induce swing-and-miss, even with the flaws. 

Marginal improvements should only continue as he settles into MLB life

As mentioned earlier, Dana is finding the zone slightly more than he did last year, about a two percent bump. So while his walk rate has increased as well, Dana is finding the zone more. Now, it just comes down to him getting back to inducing swing-and-misses outside of the zone at a similar rate to last season. If he can do that along with normal development in other areas that comes with MLB-level starts, Dana might just be able to be a regular rotation member for the Angels in 2026 and beyond.

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