TEMPE, Ariz. -- Left-hander Andrew Heaney was expected to throw around 40 pitches in his first spring outing in 10 days. But with around 15 pitches to go into his start against the White Sox on Friday, Angels manager Brad Ausmus opted to send the lefty to the bullpen to finish up his work.

“I didn't want him to throw too many pitches in one inning,” Ausmus said. “I wanted to cut him off there so he could go down to the bullpen and finish his outing.”

Heaney faced only four batters, but the pitch count climbed quickly. He yielded a leadoff single to John Jay, walked Jose Rondon and struck out Yonder Alonso, and by the time his final batter, Welington Castillo, flied out to right, Heaney had reached 25 pitches.

"I knew it was a long inning," Heaney said. "I didn't know exactly how many pitches I was at. You get to 30, that's kind of the teetering point of too long of an inning."

Heaney said he threw around 20 more pitches in the bullpen, capping an afternoon of work that he categorized as "not the best day." The Angels as a whole didn't have a great day either, falling to the White Sox, 15-8.

Heaney politely declined to elaborate on what was not working for him: "I was just working on a couple different things, and it didn't go real well."

“He wasn't laboring,” Ausmus said. “I wasn't concerned. That had nothing to do with why I took him out. It was more about making sure he got to his pitch count, right around 40, 45 pitches.”

Heaney hadn't pitched in 10 days, after being scratched from his prior outing with minor elbow inflammation. He threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and said after his outing Friday that there were no lingering problems.

Still, the lefty is clearly unsatisfied with how the spring has gone for him so far. Including his abbreviated first outing, Heaney has thrown only 1 2/3 innings in live Cactus League games.

"It would be nice to have more game action -- I've gotten through, what, one full inning in spring?" Heaney said. "It would be nice to get that and be able to throw to some hitters a little bit longer."

Health updates

Third baseman Zack Cozart, who has been sidelined since March 5 with a Grade 1 left calf strain, is "not just marginally better -- significantly better," Ausmus said. The manager declined to put a timetable in Cozart's return to the field, offering only "he is definitely trending in the right direction."

Outfielder Justin Upton, recovering from right knee tendinitis, could also soon return to game action. He was scheduled to go through running exercises on the field, and assuming he doesn't have any more setbacks, Upton could rejoin the lineup in the near future.

Up next

Saturday will be a split-squad day for the Angels, who will host the Brewers at Tempe Diablo Stadium at 12:10 p.m. PT and will play the Cubs at Sloan Park at 12:05 p.m. MT. Right-hander Trevor Cahill will start the home game, with righty Griffin Channing making the trip to Mesa to face the Cubs. The Angels will face Brewers right-hander Josh Tomlin, while the Cubs have not yet announced a starter.