The Los Angeles Angels are in the midst of developing young players, and Cayden Danna looks to be the latest piece of the puzzle.
The right-hander is scheduled to make his second major league start in the final game of a four-game series between the Angels and Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
Dana (1-0, 3.00 ERA) was outstanding in his MLB debut last Sunday, allowing just two runs and two hits over six innings in a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.
“Despite it being his first major league start, the amount of information he had about the opposing team’s lineup and the homework he’s done leading up to this start was really, really impressive,” Angels catcher Matt Theis said.
Dana, who turns 21 on Dec. 17, will be the youngest pitcher to take the mound for the Angels since Francisco Rodriguez in 2002 and the youngest starting pitcher since Frank Tanana in 1973.
“He’s proven himself to be a major league pitcher,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He pitched when he needed to. He used his fastball, his curveball wasn’t as consistent as he’d like, but he was there when he needed to.”
Dana had a big minor league career after being selected by the Angels (59-83) in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, posting a 12-12 record with a 3.01 ERA and 244 strikeouts in 212 1/3 innings in 41 starts over three seasons.
He recently went 9-7 with a 2.52 ERA in 23 starts for Double-A Rocket City, striking out 147 batters in 135 2/3 innings.
Veteran Andrew Heaney (4-13, 3.81 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale for Texas (69-74). The left-hander is hoping his efforts pay off despite going 0-2 with a 3.24 ERA in five games in August.
He held the New York Yankees scoreless on three hits in five scoreless innings in his first September start on the mound Tuesday with a 1-0 lead, but the Yankees rallied for two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth as Texas rallied to win, 7-4.
“Every year there seems to be a guy who just doesn’t get the scoring support, and he’s that guy,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Heaney. “He’s started almost every game, but that’s not indicative of how well he’s pitching, because he’s consistently giving us a chance to win games. We just have a hard time getting the scoring on him.”
Heaney, who played for the Angels from 2015-2021, is 0-1 with a 4.22 ERA in four games against his former team (two as a starter).
Heaney started against Los Angeles on May 17 and was the losing pitcher, 9–3. Heaney allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and threw 83 pitches in 3 2/3 innings.
The Rangers won the first game of a three-game series 3-1 on Thursday night, the Angels came from behind to win 5-1 on Friday and Texas came from behind to win 6-4 on Saturday.
Los Angeles placed outfielders Kevin Pillar (sprained left thumb) and Jo Adell (strained left oblique muscle) on the 10-day disabled list before Saturday’s game and recalled outfielders Bryce Teodosio and Jordan Adams from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Teodosio started in center field in his major league debut on Saturday and was hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
