Shohei Ohtani is on the road to recovery. 

After having elbow ligament replacement surgery in October, Ohtani is scheduled to play catch Friday with about 60 to 70 light tosses for the first time since the procedure according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. 

DiGiovanna adds he will back off his hitting rehab schedule except for soft toss. 

Maria Torres, also of the LA Times, reported Thursday that Ohtani has spent the last month of spring training in Arizona focusing on hitting -- which is all he will be able to do for the Angels this coming season. 

Torres adds that Ohtani's rehab as a pitcher caused the Angels to be "conservative" with his recovery and target a May return for the two-way star. Ausmus said his hitting workload will decrease once his throwing rehab begins. 

According to Jeff Fletcher of the Los Angeles Daily News, the next step in his hitting progression is taking batting practice in the cage with a coach throwing overhand. He’d then likely move to on-field batting practice, followed by batting practice against a pitcher.

Ohtani also battled blisters last season in addition to his elbow issues. 

Despite his injury woes, Ohtani was spectacular during his rookie season, winning the American League Rookie of the Year reward. At the plate, Ohtani hit 22 home runs and drove in 61 runs while posting an OPS of .925. On the mound, the 23-year-old went 4-2 with a 3.31 earned run average across 10 starts.