Over the past two years, Caden Dana has been working towards his goal of playing baseball in the major leagues.

On Saturday, the 20-year old Montgomery native will get a glimpse of what he’s been working towards, as he earned a trip to the MLB All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, July 13.

“I’m excited,” Dana said. “After my next outing, I’m basically booked. My family’s coming out and it should be a good time.”

An 11th round draft pick by the Los Angeles Angels in 2022, Dana has efficiently worked his way through the minor leagues. During his first season of professional baseball, Dana navigated through rookie ball in the Arizona Complex League, and then Single-A with the Inland Empire 66ers, of the California League.

Last year, the right-handed pitcher made three appearances with the 66ers in San Bernardino, California, before a promotion to the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Angels’ High-A affiliate in the Northwest League in Pasco, Washington.

“Last year was different when I was in the Northwest League, going through Seattle and Oregon – I’d never been there at all,” Dana said of his travels through the minor leagues. “It was really my first experience of seeing different places. The Northwest League is a lot different than being back in New York, and different than the Southern League is.”

Dana began the 2024 season with another promotion to the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas, based in Madison, Alabama.

“I was at big league spring training, which was a big step up, and then Double-A this year,” Dana said of his start to this season. “Now I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and not change anything mentally.”

Through 16 starts over 90 1-3 innings with the Trash Pandas, Dana has posted a 2.99 ERA with 97 strikeouts and 31 walks.

Recently, Dana was also named the No. 91 prospect of all minor leaguers in MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects, the only player in the Angels’ organization on the list.

The ranking, on top of Dana’s performance, helped secure the starting pitcher a spot in the Futures Game, which showcases the top talent in the minor leagues, as part of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities.

“So last week I got called into my manager’s office and he made a joke,” Dana said of how he found out he was chosen for the Futures Game. “He was like: ‘You’re not in trouble and you’re not getting called up, so get those two things out of your head.’”

“He told me I was going to the Futures Game, and I called my family right away.”

In his final start before the Futures Game on July 5, Dana tossed six innings against the Birmingham Barons, allowing one run with nine strikeouts.

He also had a pair of stellar performances last month. On June 7 against the Chattanooga Lookouts, Dana allowed two runs over eight innings, recording 10 strikeouts. On June 14 against the Mississippi Braves, he struck out nine over seven innings, allowing just one unearned run.

Dana credits the emergence of a new pitch towards his success in the minors.

“When I got drafted, my focus was really on developing, listening to the right people and working on my craft,” he said. “My senior year I didn’t throw a changeup, I was just working on my slider. I feel like those are two really good pitches that I have now.”

Overall through his minor league career, Dana has compiled a 3.40 ERA over 167 innings, with 194 strikeouts.

When Dana arrives at Globe Life Field on Saturday, the 6-foot-4 right-hander with long blond hair will certainly stand out.

“I haven’t cut it since probably November 2022,” Dana, nicknamed Achilles by his teammates, said of his hair. “After I got home from the 2023 season I took like an inch off, but I had to keep it long.”

“It was always a superstition of mine, having long hair when I play baseball. I always thought it was better luck, you wear the hat and gotta have the flow coming out. … Now, I took it a step further, it’s long.”

The Futures Game will be televised on MLB Network at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, and can also be streamed on MLB.tv.