Shohei Ohtani lightly tossed 23 pitches in the bullpen Saturday, in a vacant Angel Stadium and three hours before teammate Tyler Skaggs fired the first pitch that actually counted.
The next day, Ohtani was diagnosed with a grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and he received platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injections to aid healing and attempt to avoid surgery.
“As we continue to test it moving forward over the next couple weeks,” manager Mike Scioscia said, “we’ll get a better idea of where he is.”
Though his pitching workout was brief and at less than full speed, Ohtani was closely monitored by the assembled media.