MESA, Ariz. -- Shohei Ohtani featured an upper-90s fastball and a wipeout splitter in his spring pitching debut Friday, a 41-pitch outing that seemed to validate the Los Angeles Angels' hopes that he can contribute as a two-way player this season.

Ohtani, pitching two days after unleashing a 486-foot home run to straightaway center field, struck out five of the 10 Oakland Athletics batters he faced, the last three on splitters that dropped well below the strike zone.

The 26-year-old right-hander issued two walks, gave up three hits -- two which ultimately went for extra bases -- and was removed with two outs in the second inning because the Angels had set a 40-pitch limit on his start. But Ohtani was around the strike zone far more often than he showed in his short pitching stint last summer and displayed a cleaner, more repeatable delivery, which Angels manager Joe Maddon was hoping to see.

"The big thing for him -- the success is gonna be repetition of delivery and knowing where his fastball is going consistently," Maddon said postgame. "If that occurs, he's really gonna take off."

Ohtani has only acted as a two-way player for two months over the last three years, in April and May of his 2018 rookie season, before having Tommy John surgery. He spent the rest of the 2018 season and all of 2019 serving as the Angels' primary designated hitter, then struggled in his return to two-way action during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. Ohtani made only two rough starts before straining the flexor pronator mass near his surgically repaired elbow, limiting him to only hitting once again.

After the season -- which he finished with a .190 batting average and a 37.80 ERA -- Ohtani underwent an aggressive offseason regimen in which he got into more game-like situations as a hitter and pitcher, revamped his diet and workout regimen and sought advice from third parties, including, sources said, experts at the renowned baseball facility Driveline. Ohtani's progress showed during the workout portion of spring training and is now manifesting itself in game settings.

Ohtani, speaking through his interpreter, said he mistakenly started "cutting" some of his pitches while overthrowing with runners in scoring position, but he was pleased with his splitter as an out pitch and believes his velocity will continually rise as the season progresses.

Maddon has expressed a desire to ease some of the restrictions off Shohei, part of which includes starting when his turn comes as part of a six-man rotation rather than on a certain day each week. Maddon is also open to the possibility of putting him in the lineup the day after his start, which didn't used to be the case.

"The big thing was to put him in charge of his own career and not try to dictate so much to him, permit his athleticism to take over and not be so concerned about getting hurt," Maddon said of the reasoning behind a more aggressive usage. "He's done this in the past, he should know himself better than we do, and we did not wanna create these limitations or set guidelines that we didn't know if they would work or not."