Caden Dana

Caden Lawrence Dana (born December 17, 2003) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization.

Amateur career
Dana attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. In early 2020, Dana committed to play college baseball for the Kentucky Wildcats. He was the New Jersey Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year his senior year in 2022.

Professional career
Dana was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 11th round of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Dana forewent his commitment to play for the Kentucky Wildcats and signed with the Angels for $1,497,500, a record-high signing bonus for an 11th-round pick. He netted the second-highest bonus in the Angels' 2022 draft class, only behind first-round pick Zach Neto. His brother, Casey, was also drafted by the Angels that year.

On August 8, 2022, the Angels assigned Dana to the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Angels. On August 9, he made his professional debut, pitching two innings while allowing one hit and no runs against the ACL Diamondbacks Black. On September 7, the Angels promoted Dana to the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers of the California League, where he pitched one game. Between the two teams, Dana finished his partial 2022 season with a 0–0 record, 6.48 ERA, and 8 strikeouts in $8 1/3$ innings.

Dana played his first three games of the 2023 season with Inland Empire, compiling a 1–1 record with a 1.20 ERA and 18 strikeouts across 15 innings. On April 25, the Angels promoted him to the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils of the Northwest League. In 11 starts with the team, Dana went 2–4 with a 4.22 ERA and 71 strikeouts across $53 1/3$ innings.

In 2024, Dana received a non-roster invitation to the Angels' big-league spring training camp for the first time. His performance at the camp received positive reviews from the media, such as after his two shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox on March 3. The organization promoted him to the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Southern League to begin the 2024 regular season. In late June, Dana entered MLB.com's league-wide top 100 prospects list, the only Angels player with the distinction at the time. He later moved up to 91 on the list and received an invitation to pitch in the 2024 All-Star Futures Game.