Ortiz Has Enough on Ball to Impress Scioscia

Ramon Ortiz, the Angels’ prized rookie right-hander, didn’t exactly dazzle the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes during a six-inning rehabilitation start Thursday night in Lake Elsinore, but he threw well enough to impress Angel Manager Mike Scioscia.

Ortiz, who could make his Angel debut Tuesday in Anaheim against Toronto, gave up two runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in Lake Elsinore’s 5-2 victory. He threw 87 pitches, 54 of them strikes in his fourth outing since being diagnosed with a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder in March.

“If he can bottle this stuff, he’ll be fine,” Scioscia said. “But we’ll just have to see how he comes out of it. It’s impossible to know right now if he’s ready.”

Ortiz, 24, pitched before an opening-night crowd of 3,869 that included a large contingent of Angel front office personnel.

“My fastball felt good, but I didn’t have good location,” said Ortiz, who was 2-3 with a 6.52 ERA in nine starts last year for the Angels.

His first pitch of the game, a high fastball, was drilled to the wall in left-center field by Rancho Cucamonga’s Jeremy Owens, who later scored. In the fifth, Ortiz gave up a line-drive double off the right-field wall to left-handed catcher Sean Campbell, but he worked out of the jam by striking out the side.

“These guys, even at A-ball, can jump on a fastball,” Scioscia said.

In the sixth, Rancho Cucamonga scored a run on a walk and two ground-ball singles. Ortiz, whose fastball was clocked in the low 90s in the sixth inning, was on a limit of 85 pitches.

“We’re talking about a guy that didn’t have a lot of spring training,” Scioscia said. “Every appearance his command has been better. His stamina’s good, his fastball’s there. It’s a matter of him maintaining it.”

Scioscia said the team physician, Dr. Lewis Yocum, has assured the Angels they are not risking further injury by allowing Ortiz to pitch.

“If we were not cautious, he probably could have been ready late in the spring,” Scioscia said. “Everyone in the organization is looking out for his best interests. We’re certainly not pushing him.”

Tonight in Lake Elsinore, Angel left-hander Jarrod Washburn (sore side) will make a rehabilitation start. Washburn pitched for the Storm in 1996.