3 LA Angels players who are younger than you think

Caden Dana

The youngest member of the 40-man roster knows a little about the pressures of fan expectations. Caden Dana made his debut last season with a 6-inning, 2-run win over the Mariners, before coming back down to Earth, hard. He only managed 4.1 innings over his next two starts combined, giving up 9 earned runs on 12 hits, and ended the year with a 9.58 ERA. He’s made one appearance so far in 2025, coming up while Ryan Johnson was on the paternity list, but he’s been dominant at AAA, including hurling 7 scoreless innings in his most recent start. The kicker here is that he’s still only 21. If he had made the Angels opening day roster, he would have been the third youngest player on that aforementioned 2025 list. He’s younger than Paul Skenes, Jackson Jobe or Roki Sasaki.

Crucially, the Angels aren’t nearly as desperate for starting pitchers as they have been over the last several years. Jack Kochanowicz and Jose Soriano have started the year well, Reid Detmers is likely to step up as soon as one of them falters, and Chase Silseth and Sam Aldegheri haven’t gone anywhere – and not one of those pitchers is older than 26. That’s not even mentioning the bullpen, led by Johnson and 24-year-old Ben Joyce. With Kyle Hendricks, Tyler Anderson and Kenley Jansen all on expiring contracts, the frontline pitching for the Angels is going to get young, fast.

Youth, in itself, is no guarantee of greatness. Baseball history is littered with flash in the pan careers, prospects who never panned out, and hype that came to nothing. But for an organisation whose farm system, draft history and developmental prowess is generally sneered at, there seem to be a curious number of young, talented players making their way up the ranks.  

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