The Los Angeles Angels have announced that Shohei Ohtani will return to the mound on Sunday night for the first time since spraining the ulnar collateral ligament in his right pitching elbow nearly three months ago.

The Angels will face the Houston Astros on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

Ohtani has thrown up to 50 pitches in the bullpen. It was initially feared that he might need Tommy John surgery.

"We will monitor that very closely," Mike Scioscia said. "We will have a range, but we are going to wait and talk internally to see what he is going to be able to do and see how the game is going."

Ohtani was excellent over nine starts before getting hurt, going 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA.