Angels to call up Caden Dana, Samuel Aldegheri for major league debuts this weekend

DETROIT –The Angels are going to get a good look at the future this weekend.

The Angels announced that they will promote top pitching prospect Caden Dana from Double-A to make his major league debut on Sunday. Samuel Aldegheri, one of the prospects the Angels received in the Carlos Estévez trade a month ago, is also coming up from Double-A. He’ll start on Friday.

“They are two of our top guys down there,” manager Ron Washington said. “With the way things are, they’re getting that chance. There’s nowhere else we can go, so we’re gonna have to see what they got to offer. They’ve got good arms. They’re supposed to have a little bit of maturity, and we’re gonna see all of those things in the next few days.”

Dana, 20, is the prime attraction. He’s the widely considered the Angels top prospect, and also one of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball. The Angels’ 11th-round pick in 2022, Dana will be the youngest pitcher to appear in a game for the Angels since Francisco Rodriguez in 2002, and the youngest to start a game since Frank Tanana in 1973.

Dana earned this opportunity by dominating Double-A, with a 2.52 ERA in 23 starts. He struck out 147 and walked 39 in 135-2/3 innings. In his last five games, he has an 0.57 ERA in 31-1/3 innings.

“He earned it, so we’re going to give him the ball, and I’m looking forward to watching him pitch,” Washington said. “I saw him in spring training, but he has gained a lot more experience of pitching, and it’d be nice to see where it is.”

Right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, a 23-year-old who pitched most of this season at Double-A, said he’s confident that Dana is ready for the big leagues.

“He’s incredible,” Kochanowicz said after pitching six scoreless innings in an Angels victory on Thursday. “He dominated down there. He’s been dominating the whole year, and he’s just got to come up here and trust himself, and do that same thing.”

Aldegheri, 22, will become the first pitcher born and raised in Italy to pitch in the majors.

He has a 3.59 ERA at two levels of the minors, with the Phillies and Angels. He started four games at Double-A with the Angels since the trade, posting a 5.19 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 17-1/3 innings.

The Angels have not announced the corresponding roster moves or who will come out of the rotation. Sunday is Sept. 1, so the Angels will have one extra roster spot for a pitcher. Right-hander Carson Fulmer had been scheduled to start on Friday, and right-hander Johnny Cueto was scheduled to pitch on Sunday.