Angels continue to demonstrate their future against Rangers

The youth movement is in full swing at the Los Angeles Angels and Caden Dana appears to be the newest piece of the puzzle.

The right-hander is expected to make his second major league start when the Angels play the Texas Rangers in the last of their four-game series in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday afternoon.

Dana (1-0, 3.00 ERA) was outstanding in his MLB debut last Sunday, limiting the Seattle Mariners to two runs and two hits in six innings in a 3-2 win.

“For his first major league start, the amount of information he had on the lineup and the homework he did leading up to that start was really, really impressive,” Angels catcher Matt Thaiss said.

Dana, who turns 21 on Dec. 17, is 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 proved to himself that he could pitch at the major league level,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He pitched when he needed to. He used his fastball, couldn’t land his breaking ball as consistently as he wanted to, but he landed it when he needed to.”

Dana stormed through the minors after the Angels (59-83) selected him 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.

Most recently, he made 23 starts for Double-A Rocket City, posting a 9-7 record with a 2.52 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 135 2/3.

Veteran Andrew Heaney (4-13, 3.81 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale for Texas (69-74). The left-hander is still hoping for a reward for his efforts after going 0-2 in five starts in August, despite posting a 3.24 ERA for the month.

In his first start of September on Tuesday, he shut out the New York Yankees with three hits in five innings to take a 1-0 lead. However, the Yankees scored two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth inning before Texas rallied to win 7-4.

“It seems like every year you have a guy that you just don’t get any running help for, and that’s him,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Heaney. “He’s been in almost every start, but that doesn’t say anything about how he’s thrown the ball because he’s been so consistent in giving us a chance to win a game. We’re just having a hard time getting the runs we need for him.”

Heaney, who played for the Angels from 2015-2021, has a 0-1 record and a 4.22 ERA in four appearances against his former team, including two starts.

He started against Los Angeles on May 17 and was the losing pitcher in a 9-3 loss. Heaney allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits and needed 83 pitches to go 3 2/3 innings.

The Rangers won the opener of the three-game series 3-1 on Thursday night, the Angels bounced back with a 5-1 win on Friday and Texas took a 6-4 victory on Saturday.

Before Saturday’s game, Los Angeles placed outfielders Kevin Pillar (left thumb sprain) and Jo Adell (left oblique strain) on the 10-day injured list 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 went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

–Field level media