Friday morning, Los Angeles Angels wunderkind Shohei Ohtani took the mound for his second start of the spring. He pitched in a "B" game against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out eight of the dozen batters he faced.

"I felt like I was in the zone with all my pitches, compared to last time," Ohtani said to MLB.com's Maria Guardado after the "B" game Friday. "I need to still work on the break of my breaking balls and timing, but I did take a step forward since my last outing."

Here is some video of Ohtani in action Friday:

For all intents and purposes, a "B" game is a glorified scrimmage between two teams looking to get players extra work on the side. Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times explains:

The environment of a "B" game will allow the Angels to better control the conditions since innings can be ended at any time. The plan is to have Ohtani work the equivalent of three innings and throw 45-50 pitches.

These games are a common spring-training practice, teams simply agreeing to get together to play mainly for the benefit of pitchers trying to build arm strength.

Friday's game was Ohtani's fourth appearance this spring. Here is his Cactus League season to date:

  • Feb. 24: 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K as pitcher
  • Feb. 25: Rest
  • Feb. 26: 1-1, 2 RBI, 1 BB as DH
  • Feb. 27: 0-3, 1 K as DH
  • Feb. 28: Rest
  • March 1: Rest
  • March 2: 52 pitches in a "B" game

The Angels do not plan to let Ohtani hit on days immediately before and after he pitches -- that's similar to the schedule he used in Japan -- meaning the earliest he will play again is Sunday. The Halos are planning to use a six-man rotation this year to east Ohtani into things.