ANAHEIM – Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star of the Angels, will be limited to about 75 pitches and will not enter the lineup when she returns to Rangers on Tuesday night, at Angel Stadium, manager Joe Maddon said on Monday.
Ohtani is set to make his second start of the season after dealing with a blister on his right middle finger in his lone start to the year against the White Sox on April 4th. He threw a light bullpen session on April 12 before throwing more aggressive ones on Wednesday and Saturday without a finger bandage.
But given Ohtani’s limited pitch number, on Tuesday, the Angels decided not to use him as a hitter in the same game they start, so they can use a hitter designated for the entire game. Ohtani batted second when he started on the mound against the White Sox, hitting a home run in his first bout, while hitting seven over 4 2/3 innings and allowing a run to win.
“He’s going to get to that 75-step point, but you have to look and see with that blister,” Maddon said. “You just have to be careful. It could be more, it could be less. It feels pretty good. With the uncertainty, I’m not going to hit it tomorrow, only if something breaks early and then we should fight the rest of the night with a short bench. ”
As for Wednesday’s game, Maddon said it’s too early to know if Ohtani will be in line the day after it starts. But he was in the lineup against the Rangers on Monday and will depend on him if he wants to serve as DH on Wednesday.
“I’ve talked about it and I’m waiting to hear what he thinks about it,” Maddon said. “He may want to wait until he throws to say something. And if that’s the case, so is he. ”
Ohtani qualified 0-to-4 on the set in the 6-4 month loss to the Rangers and said he was ready to return to the mound, but that he would not know how the blister would react until he fired at full intensity. He also said he hopes it will be back on Wednesday, but it’s too early to know for sure.
“There are no problems at the moment,” Ohtani said through Ippa Mizuhara’s interpreter. “It could be a different story once we get to the game, but from now on there are no problems. My blister was quite large and affected all four stitches when I went against the stitches. I used to get blisters on the inside of my parting fingers. But this was not from the parting. ”
Rendon starts a light baseball activity
Third baseman Anthony Rendon came out on April 10 with a left groin strain, but hit a tee, threw and did some light field work on Monday. Rendon is eligible to return from the injured list on Wednesday, but it looks like he will need more time than that.
“It’s coming,” Maddon said. “I do not hear anything negative now. Everything is progressing positively, which is a good thing. ”
Maddon, however, said he has no official timeline for when Rendon could return, but the club hopes it will be soon. With Rendon out, Luis Rengifo started at third base on Friday and again on Monday.
“I don’t think it’s much further, but I’ll wait until it works,” Maddon said. “It looked good, but it didn’t really push him. We need to meet with the training group, obviously, but I don’t think it’s too far from the line. ”
Angels are in order
• The Angels held a light workout on Sunday after seeing their games against Minnesota postponed on Saturday and Sunday due to COVID-19 problems with the twins. Both right-handers Alex Cobb and left-back José Quintana faced offers to try to stay sharp. Quintana was scheduled to start Saturday, but will now take the grave against the Rangers on Wednesday, while Cobb is set to begin the opening game against the Astros on Thursday in Houston.
• Right-hander Dexter Fowler met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday to schedule surgery to repair a broken ACL in his left knee. Fowler will undergo the season finale on April 27. It is expected to have a recovery time of six to nine months.