ANAHEIM (Neth.) – Angels all-star slugger and pitcher Shohei Ohtani will be capped in about 75 pitches and will not be part of the hitter lineup in his return to the mound against the Rangers on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, he told manager Joe Maddon on Monday.
Ohtani is scheduled for his second start of the season after dealing with a blister on the middle finger of his right hand during his only appearance of the year against the White Sox on April 4. He threw a soft session from the bullpen on April 12 before doing a more aggressive Wednesday and Saturday without a finger strap.
With Ohtani under a throwing limit on Tuesday, the Angels decided they would not use him as a batter in the same game he started, so they could use a designated person for the entire engagement. Ohtani batted second when he started on the mound against the White Sox and hit a homerun in his first inning while striking out seven batters in 4.1 innings to give him a deserved run.
“It will be capped in about 75 places, but we will have to see what happens to the blister,” Maddon said. “You just have to pay attention. It could be more, it could be less. It feels very good. Just in case, I’m not going to hit him tomorrow just in case something goes wrong early and we’re dealing with a short couch for the rest of the night. “
As for Wednesday’s game, Maddon said it is too early to know if Ohtani will be in the lineup the day after his start. But he was in the lineup on Monday night and it’s up to him if he wants to be BD on Wednesday.
“We’ve talked about it and I’ll see what you think,” Maddon said. “Maybe he wants to wait until he has something to say after his attempts. And if it does, that’s fine too. “