Ohtani rejoins Angels following 4-week DL stint

The Los Angeles Angels activated two-way star Shohei Ohtani from the disabled list Tuesday following a four-week absence precipitated by a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

He will serve as designated hitter, batting sixth, for Tuesday's series opener against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

Ohtani, who last appeared in a game for the Angels on June 4, resumed taking batting practice Thursday after an MRI showed improvement in his damaged ligament. Still, it remains unclear whether Ohtani - who underwent stem-cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma injections last month - will pitch again this season.

Over the weekend, Ohtani received 20 at-bats against Angels minor leaguers in a pair of simulated games, evidently doing enough to convince Angels general manager Billy Eppler that he is ready to rejoin the active roster, if only as a DH.

"He looked good," Eppler told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. "He was making good decisions in the batter's box, impacting the baseball. You could tell that he had really kept himself in elite physical condition during the time on the disabled list. All in all, we were pleased with how he looks physically and how he was running and the shape he kept himself in."

Ohtani, once the presumptive 2018 American League Rookie of the Year, owns a .907 OPS with six home runs, eight doubles, and one triple in 129 plate appearances with the Angels. In nine starts on the mound, meanwhile, Ohtani boasts a 3.10 ERA (131 ERA+) with a 1.14 WHIP and 30.5 percent strikeout rate across 49 1/3 innings.