DETROIT -- Cody Allen isn’t willing to blame last month’s poor performance on his ailing back.

But now that the 30-year-old reliever is back to full health, Allen -- who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday -- is eager to get back on track and help the Angels win games.

“I can sit here and say that my back was the issue. But no,” Allen said. “I wasn’t throwing strikes. I was in bad counts and guys were hitting homers. That is, by no means, an excuse for poor performance. I will not hang that on my back. That was just a bad stretch of baseball.”

Sidelined since last April, Allen reported no setbacks following a bullpen session Saturday, and he rejoined the Angels prior to their series opener Tuesday in Detroit. Allen isn’t expected to reclaim the ninth-inning duties upon his return, but Angels manager Brad Ausmus didn’t rule out the possibility of calling on the right-hander in high-leverage situations, if needed.

“The game will sometimes force your hand,” Ausmus said. “But ideally, since he just came off the IL, [we’d like to use him] in a softer situation, but if he’s the guy who can get us out of a situation, I’ll go with him.”

Allen was among a handful of roster moves announced Tuesday by the Angels, who also reinstated two-way player Shohei Ohtani and infielder Zack Cozart from the injured list.

In corresponding moves, the Angels designated both outfielder Peter Bourjos and right-hander Chris Stratton for assignment, and infielder Luis Rengifo was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.

When a player's contract is designated for assignment -- often abbreviated "DFA" -- that player is immediately removed from his club's 40-man roster, and 25-man roster if he was on that as well. Within seven days of the transaction (it was previously 10 days), the player must either be traded, released or placed on irrevocable outright waivers.

“With both of those two guys being designated, I’ll either hear from some clubs the next couple days on them, or they’ll go out on the waiver wire,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said. “Hopefully, by the early portion of next week, we’ll have a little bit of resolution.”

Prior to being placed on the injured list, Allen was removed from the closer role following his poor start to the season. For the season, he’s allowed six runs in nine innings, with 10 walks.

Allen signed a one-year deal with the Angels on Jan. 20 after spending seven-plus seasons with the Indians. He did not allow a run in his first five games, recording four saves in four tries, but struggled in his last six appearances, allowing runs in five of six games.

“I felt like I was a little bit of dead weight down there in the bullpen at that time,” Allen said. “They were trying to stay away from me, we were playing some long games, and our bullpen had been leaned on heavily. For them to get another arm, I think really helped them out.”

Former Tigers manager Ausmus returns to Detroit
Ausmus looked different in Angels red as he sat in the visitors' dugout at Comerica Park and talked with reporters. His quick wit and dry sense of humor, though, still fit him well.

When a reporter pointed out that the former Tigers manager still receives a heavy amount of blame from fans for the team’s slide after four consecutive American League Central titles, Ausmus was ready with a response.

“You can keep blaming me,” he said. “It makes it easier.”

The last time Ausmus was at Comerica Park, he was playing out the final days of his Tigers managerial tenure as Detroit was beginning its rebuilding project. Ausmus returned Tuesday as manager of an Angels squad that is built to contend now, despite a slow start so far this season. Though Ausmus has been gone just over a year, only 12 players on the Tigers’ active roster played for him.

Ausmus managed for four seasons in Detroit, winning a division title in 2014. The Tigers made a run to try to win it all by acquiring David Price that season, adding Yoenis Cespedes the following winter, then signing Jordan Zimmermann and Justin Upton a year later.

Ausmus was also at the helm for the dismantling of much of that roster, from J.D. Martinez’s trade to Arizona in July 2017 to the Upton and Justin Verlander trades at the end of August that season. A few weeks later, with Ausmus’ contract near its end, the two sides announced they were parting ways.

"It's nice to be back,” Ausmus said. “I had a great time when I was in Detroit. We didn't perform like I was hoping we would, but I loved the area I lived in and have a lot of good memories from here. I'm happy to be back."

Additional reporting provided by Jason Beck.