ANAHEIM (Neth.) – Angels star Shohei Ohtani held a 30-pitch bullpen session on the mound at Angel Stadium on Saturday and will be re-evaluated on Sunday to determine whether he will make his next start. Angels manager Joe Maddon said such an outing could be against the Rangers as early as Tuesday.
Ohtani has only had one start this season, on April 4 against the White Sox, with a blister on the middle finger of his right hand. But Ohtani threw a 10-pitch light bullpen session on Monday, before throwing 23 balls on Wednesday. Saturday he threw the finger unprotected; a good sign for Ohtani, who was assessed by track and field coach Adam Nevela after the exercise and determined that there were no problems.
“I heard everything was going really well,” said Maddon. They looked at his finger and Adam said it looked good. We will decide on the plans tomorrow ”.
The 26-year old Ohtani has been able to continue playing designated hitter without any problems this season and has started well. Starting on Saturday, he hits .333 / .370 / .706 with four homers, three doubles, two triples and 12 RBI’s in 13 games.