Angels' Ohtani is expected to return to mound today

A few hours before the Angels' game Friday night, Shohei Ohtani's status as a pitcher was uncertain.

By the time he got through pregame activities, however, the two-way star was already scheduled for his next pitching start.

Ohtani will take the mound Sunday, the Angels announced, two days after he was scratched from a scheduled Friday start because of arm soreness.

After manager Joe Maddon said in his afternoon media scrum that he didn't know "if it's going to be possible to throw [Ohtani] again or not" before the end of the season, Ohtani took the field pregame and completed a full slate of activities.

He went through throwing drills against an outfield wall, a staple of his between starts routine this year. He then played catch in the outfield for several minutes. And finally, he went into the bullpen for a 32-pitch session.

It marked a stark turnaround for Ohtani, who was scratched from Friday's start after experiencing general soreness in his pitching arm following a game of catch earlier this week.

Upcoming Events