Ohtani takes next step by facing live pitching

ANAHEIM -- Shohei Ohtani started his final step as a hitter in his recovery from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, as he faced live pitching in a simulated game at Angel Stadium.

Ohtani, who is on track to be activated from the injured list in early May, had four plate appearances against an unnamed right-handed pitcher, manager Brad Ausmus said. Ohtani walked twice, hit one hard into the right-center-field gap and another line drive off the end of his bat into the outfield.

Ohtani, who underwent the operation on Oct. 1, is expected to need at least a week of live batting practice before returning. He's not scheduled to go on a rehab assignment.

"He looked good," Ausmus said. "I don't want to put too much stock in the results. It's the first time he's stepped in the batter's box since last September. He didn't seem to miss a beat."

Ausmus said he watched the live batting practice session with hitting coaches Jeremy Reed and Shawn Wooten early Wednesday afternoon. Ohtani will continue to see live pitching every day as part of his rehab and his plate appearances will escalate as he goes along, as he could get as many as 10 at-bats in a day. Ohtani will also continue to throw each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but he won't return as a pitcher until 2020.

Ausmus, though, said the Angels don't have a specific target date for Ohtani's return just yet, but he did rule out a return before the end of April.

"I'm not sure," Ausmus said. "I don't know. It's going to continue for the rest of this month, for sure."

Angels to use closer-by-committee

With Cody Allen scuffling, the Angels are backing off him as closer, Ausmus said he plans to use a combination of Ty Buttrey, Hansel Robles and Luis Garcia in the ninth inning until Allen turns it around in lower-leverage situations.

Allen allowed at least one run in four straight appearances from April 13 through Sunday, posting a 19.29 ERA with three homers allowed over that stretch. He met with Ausmus on Monday about his new role and responded by throwing a scoreless ninth inning in Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Yankees to lower his ERA to 5.40 in 8 1/3 innings.

"We're actually much better as a team when he's closing," Ausmus said. "But right now, we're going to try to put him in some lower-leverage situations to try to get back to where he needs to be and get command of his pitches. If we can return him to pitching the ninth inning in save situations we're a much deeper bullpen and a better team."

Allen took the news in stride, and noted that he had an 11.57 ERA in March and April of 2015, but he finished with a 2.99 ERA and 34 saves, and a 6.97 ERA in March and April of 2016, only to end the year with a 2.51 ERA and 32 saves.

"It's the life of a backend guy," Allen said. "Every run you give up in April and every run you give up in September is magnified. I've been here before."

Allen said he believes he'll get going as the season goes along, as he's worked on his mechanics with pitching coach Doug White and bullpen coach Andrew Bailey and doesn't feel fully comfortable on the mound just yet.

"When you are making a big change like that, some bumps along the way can happen," Allen said. "Because I haven't been doing it super long, it's not like riding a bike. I threw last night and I felt better. I didn't feel great, but I felt better. And in catch today I felt pretty good. We're hoping the trajectory of this thing is moving up."

Skaggs to start Friday

Left-hander Tyler Skaggs, who has been out since April 12 with a sprained left ankle, will return to the rotation to start the series opener against the Royals on Friday in Kansas City. Skaggs threw two bullpen sessions of more than 40 pitches after sustaining the injury and was cleared to return.

Cozart scratched

Third baseman Zack Cozart was scratched from Wednesday's lineup because he still felt stiffness in his neck after diving into Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu's knee in Monday's game. Cozart, though, said it was just a precaution and he is available off the bench. Tommy La Stella replaced him in the lineup.

"I was in the lineup, but I'm still a little stiff in my neck," Cozart said. "Going to give me another day to try to loosen it up. Nothing too alarming, but it's not quite there."

Angels make roster move

The Angels purchased the contract of right-handed reliever Matt Ramsey from Triple-A Salt Lake on Wednesday and designated lefty reliever Sam Freeman for assignment to make room for him on the roster.

Ramsey, 29, had a 3.12 ERA with nine strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings in seven appearances at Triple-A. He was signed as a Minor League free agent before the season and it's the first time he's reached the Majors. Freeman, meanwhile, made his Angels debut on Tuesday, allowing one run over two innings. The Angels have seven days to either place him on waivers, trade him or release him.