Ohtani-Suzuki battery 'working' for Halos

There has been much attention on the performance of Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani. With the question of whether he will pitch and hit in the same game seemingly constant, one thing to expect is catcher Kurt Suzuki behind the plate for Ohtani’s starts.

Both Suzuki and Max Stassi operate as the Angels’ two primary catchers, and manager Joe Maddon said both have shown great character and strong work ethic. When it comes to the veteran Suzuki in particular, Maddon said things tend go well when he’s paired up with Ohtani.

Maddon said he would “leave it alone” for now, and we should expect to see more of the Ohtani and Suzuki connection.

“They're there for them, and I've only known Kurt for a little bit of time. I knew Stass from last year, but Zuk, I'm telling you, if you're a pitcher, you want to throw to this guy,” Maddon said. “He's fully committed to your success. His homework is outstanding. Why those two? It just seems to be working right now.”

Despite the superstar status of Ohtani, Suzuki said he looks at the dynamic of catching the two-way player like he does with other pitchers he works with.

“I mean, it's not really much different than the other guys,” Suzuki said. “You try to build that relationship, you build that trust with each pitcher. Obviously, [with] different personalities you tend to do different things to try to communicate with each of them. Obviously, Shohei is a special athlete, special pitcher and you know he has an idea of what he really wants to do on the mound, and you just try to get on the same page.”

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The relationship built between the two was evident in Ohtani’s start against the Rangers on Monday. Ohtani gave up four runs in the first inning and walked two batters and hit another. He then proceeded to strike out eight batters over 4 scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season.

“Obviously the first inning wasn't like Shohei. ... [He] just wasn't settling in [and] wasn't comfortable yet, and we talked a little bit in the dugout and we figured out a game plan to move forward and see if we can get him back on track,” Suzuki said.

Lagares activated, optioned
Outfielder Juan Lagares was activated from the injured and then optioned prior to Friday’s series opener against the Mariners. Lagares has been out of action since he was placed on the 10-day IL with a left calf strain on April 13.

Lagares played in two games and went hitless in seven at-bats before the injury.

With both Dexter Fowler and Lagares down, the Angels turned to Scott Schebler to fill the void and have used Walsh in right field.

Entering Friday, Schebler has batted .154 with three doubles and two runs in 26 at-bats with the big league club.

Taxi squad swap
Noé Ramirez was removed from the taxi squad for the Angels' road trip and catcher Anthony Bemboom was added to fill the right-hander's spot. Bemboom hit .263 in six games with the Angels.