Angels top prospect's roller coaster spring continues with another poor showing

The Angels have high hopes for the top prospect, Caden Dana, who despite turning 21 this past December, has already gotten a taste of the majors last season with a September call up. That brief cup of coffee didn't go as well as many hoped, however, given his age it wasn't a huge surprise.

The Angels love fast tracking prospects to the bigs, and Dana, with an already impressive arsenal and rave reports about his ceiling, entered spring training seemingly next in line. While most of the chatter about the Angels' fifth starter battle has been about the duel between Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz, Dana was poised to be a darkhorse candidate to win the job if all went well.

What has transpired since has been a roller coaster with opinions about Dana's immediate future changing from one appearance to the next. Dana this spring owns an ERA of 15.88 over three appearances and 5.2 innings, surrendering 8 hits, 6 walks, and 10 earned runs while posting 6 strikeouts. As putrid as that looks, it doesn't tell the whole story.

Caden Dana's spring has featured some good, some bad, and some ugly for the Angels

In his first appearance of the spring, Dana did not look sharp. He came in in relief against the Mariners and went 1.2 innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 earned runs while striking out one. While that wasn't ideal, pitchers often don't look sharp in their first spring outings as they knock off the rust.

In his next appearance, Dana was downright dominant tossing a perfect 3 innings in his first and only start of the spring and easily handling quality major-league hitters such as the Cubs' Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, and Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Following that performance, there was a thought that Dana could sneak into and win the fifth starter role should he stack up a couple more impressive performances to close out the spring. He wouldn't need to be perfect as he was against the Cubs, but if he produced, the job could be his for the taking.

Dana's next appearance was a complete meltdown, and the exact opposite of what the Angels were hoping to see after his flashes of brilliance in his previous outing. Against Cleveland he tossed 1 inning while getting thoroughly knocked around.

On the day he surrendered 5 hits including a homer, 4 walks, and 7 earned runs while striking out two. It was downright ugly and erased all of the good feelings that fans were left with after he breezed through the Cubs' lineup just days before.

Throughout the spring, Dana has continued to struggle with his release point lacking consistency from one pitch to the next and effectively telegraphing to hitters what is coming. Despite making some mechanical adjustments, this is something that he's yet to get on top of and course correct.

Dana has dispelled rumors that arm trouble is the culprit for his latest disastrous outing, which is good news despite fans searching for a reason for his struggles.

The simple fact is he is still a very young pitcher, one with no AAA experience, who is still figuring out how to harness his physical gifts into consistent on-field performance. While the Angels have been spoiled with young players quickly making big leaps into the majors, it should be clear that with Dana that will not be the wise path.

Instead, the young hurler needs time, development, and seasoning. That's not the worst thing in the world, and as long as the Angels don't rush him, his up-and-down spring has no bearing on his future potential. In the meantime, the next man up in the Angels' rotation won't be Caden Dana, but the team has a plethora of other young arms they can call upon while they take a more patient approach with one of their most prized assets.

Caden Dana won't be the opening day fifth starter, but that doesn't mean he won't be a fixture in the Halos rotation for years to come.

LA Angels News from Halo Hangout