Caden Dana's MLB debut has Angels fans wondering why it took so long to promote him

Caden Dana had a marvelous MLB debut. The LA Angels' No. 1 prospect became the youngest pitcher in team history to win a game at 20 years old after knocking out the Mariners in a 3-2 victory on Sept. 1.

Dana was a highly-anticipated September call-up when rosters expanded, and the right-hander did not disappoint.

He fired a quality start while earning the victory after zipping through six innings with four strikeouts and two earned runs. He was everything that the Angels had wanted, even in the tougher moments. Dana allowed a home run against Luke Raley, but responded with a quick groundout to end the second inning. He also walked a pair of batters with two outs in the fifth, but never let Seattle capitalize with RISP.

He struck out Victor Robles to end the inning unscathed, eventually leading to a visibly enthralled Ron Washington.

In order for Dana to get to this point, he dominated the Double-A landscape, registering 147 strikeouts this season, which was the most across all of Minor League Baseball when he was called up. The 11th-round draft pick in 2022 did everything to prove himself as a big-league ready arm, including representing the Halos at the MLB Futures Game.

Following such a monumental effort in Double-A this year, you can't help but wonder what took the Angels so long to promote him.

The Angels' pitching staff has either been hurt or struggled mightily. Dana seemed like a perfect fit to fill a spot in the starting rotation, so for the Angels to only use him in a few games before the season ends is a bit suboptimal, but it might make some sense.

Perhaps, the Halos didn't want to rush him. He is only 20 years old, so to call him up too early could be a mistake. If Los Angeles had no faith in themselves winning in 2024, it probably would not help their cause to promote Dana if he was not 100 percent ready. Failing at the big league level can be mentally draining on a top prospect, so Los Angeles might have been guarding Dana from that before he fully developed.

Dana will still qualify as a rookie in 2025, which gives him a better chance of winning Rookie of the Year with some MLB time under his belt, too. All in all, he's finally where he belongs, and fans can start projecting what a full season will look like from him next year.