Shohei Ohtani, Griffin Canning back to throwing live BP for Angels

The Los Angeles Angels are getting some encouraging developments with a couple of their pitchers who are recovering from injury.

Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reported on Sunday that Shohei Ohtani and Griffin Canning have each thrown three sessions of live batting practice at about 55 pitches each, adding that they will remain at that level for now.

Ohtani continues to recover from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in fall 2018. Canning, meanwhile, was diagnosed with “chronic changes” to the UCL of his throwing elbow in February and has been treading cautiously since then. Both represent top-of-the-line starters for the Angels if healthy.

Angels GM Billy Eppler expressed concerns about the ability to progress to live BP in recent weeks, but the two pitchers appear to have overcome that hurdle as they continue to await word about the 2020 season.