Shohei Ohtani and Mike Scioscia say his drop in velocity during Sunday night’s Angels game at Houston was due to factors other than Ohtani’s elbow:

Angels manager Mike Scioscia offered a couple of explanations. Ohtani had a tight back. Ohtani also had a sore ring finger after he instinctively stuck out his right hand and deflected a comebacker by Marwin Gonzalez in the second inning of the 4-2 loss to the Houston Astros.

The ulnar collateral ligament that limited the two-way player to hitting over the previous several weeks wasn’t a problem, or so the pitcher and manager insisted.

“At this point, my elbow feels fine,” Ohtani said in Japanese.

The Angels plan to use Ohtani in a starting role next Sunday. For the moment, chalk this start up to rustiness.