OC Register: Shohei Ohtani to return to Angels’ rotation on Sunday

[AngelsWin.com]

HOUSTON — Shohei Ohtani, the two-way phenom, is officially back.

Mike Scioscia announced on Thursday that Ohtani will be the Angels’ starting pitcher on Sunday, just under three months after he was diagnosed with a damaged ulnar collateral ligament. The Angels will conclude a four-game series against the Houston Astros on ESPN’s nationally televised Sunday Night Baseball.

Ohtani, who has thrown as many as 50 pitches in a simulated game, will not yet be ready for normal starter workload, but the Angels can account for that because September rosters will allow a bigger bullpen.

Scioscia said he’s “very excited” to get Ohtani back on the mound but cautious about what he’ll be able to do initially.

“I don’t know if we can put those expectations to Shohei to when he started to hit stride, to have those expectations for what he’s doing to do on Sunday,” Scioscia said. “Hopefully he’s going to get back to that.”

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Ohtani had started nine games before getting hurt, covering 49-1/3 innings. He posted a 3.10 ERA with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Over his last five starts, he had a 2.17 ERA.

He came out of his June 6 start against the Kansas City Royals with a recurrence of his blister problem. After the game, he reported to trainers that he’d also felt some stiffness in his elbow. A subsequent MRI showed a grade 2 sprain of his UCL, which prompted many fears that Ohtani would need Tommy John surgery.

A grade 2 sprain is part of a wide spectrum of injuries – anything between no tear and a complete tear – and the Angels never gave specific of where Ohtani’s injury was.

He had a platelet-rich plasma injection and an injection of stem cells. He was cleared to resume hitting after three weeks and throwing after six weeks.

He has now built back to pitching, just under 12 weeks from the injury.

Although the Angels are out of the playoff race for 2018, they have said there is value in putting Ohtani to the test of pitching before the winter. It’s for his peace of mind, but also for purposes of the team’s offseason planning.

If Ohtani’s elbow is not going to be able to withstand the stress of pitching, it’s better to find out now than in spring training. If Ohtani still needs Tommy John surgery, he could have it this fall and only miss the 2019 season, while still hitting next year.

Scioscia said the Angels will use Ohtani as they had before the injury, pitching once a week. They will also not have him hit the day before or after he pitches.

Ohtani could start as many as five times in September if the Angels use him only on Sundays.

More to come on this story.

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[tomsred]

What, no one give a shit about this?  Great job Andrew!!!