Ohtani to return to mound Wednesday in Detroit

DETROIT -- Shohei Ohtani will start on the mound Wednesday night against the Tigers, manager Mike Scioscia confirmed before Tuesday's game in Detroit.
Ohtani, who hasn't pitched since May 20, said he's going to try to treat this layoff like he did back in Japan, where he could go anywhere from five to nine days between starts.
"I can't tell, at this point, if I really needed those two, three [extra] days," said Ohtani through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
The two-way rookie star was originally scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Yankees, but was taken out of the rotation for what the Angels called "workload management." Scioscia said it's too early to know if the extra few days of rest for Ohtani, who continued to hit during the break, will be beneficial.

"This whole program won't really have a report card until the season's over," Scioscia said.
Ohtani is tied for third on the club with a 4-1 record and has a 3.35 ERA, third among Angels starters.
Before Monday's series-opener vs. the Tigers, Ohtani had hit in six consecutive games, the longest such streak of his Angels career. Scioscia said Monday that Ohtani was available, but he did not play.
Ohtani's .291 batting average ranks third among Angels hitters with at least 50 at-bats. He has six home runs and 20 RBIs in 103 plate appearances.
Shoemaker has surgery; Wood to miss rest of season
The Angels announced on Tuesday that Matt Shoemaker underwent surgery to repair nerve decompression and pronator teres tendon repair in his pitching arm on Tuesday, and that Blake Wood will undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career on Wednesday.
Wood previously underwent the same surgery in 2012, and will will miss the remainder of the 2018 season, Scioscia said. It was not immediately clear how long Shoemaker would be sidelined.
Shoemaker had experienced setbacks in recent bullpen sessions that preceded a bone scan and MRI last Thursday, which revealed mild edema in his forearm. Shoemaker made just one start for the Halos this season before landing on the DL on April 3 with a right forearm strain. He dealt with ongoing forearm issues last year that eventually led to season-ending surgery. Other than his March 31 outing against Oakland, he has not pitched in a big league game since last June 14.
The Angels had accounted for their attrition in recent years when constructing their 2018 roster, and the solid performances of Tyler Skaggs, Ohtani, Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney, as well as rookie Jaime Barría, has established enough depth to help account for Shoemaker's absence.
Wood was on the verge of returning from his first elbow surgery but after a recent rehab outing, he was diagnosed with a damaged UCL. He had tossed 11 2/3 innings and given up three runs before being shut down.