LAS VEGAS -- In his first year as Angels manager, Brad Ausmus knows how important it will be to find the right balance of playing time for both Shohei Ohtani and Jose Pujols.
Ohtani is coming off Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Oct. 1, while Pujols underwent surgery on his left knee on Aug. 9. Ausmus confirmed he doesn't believe Ohtani will be ready to play by Opening Day on March 28, but Pujols should be ready for the start of the season. Ohtani will be limited to serving as designated hitter in 2019, which means Pujols will have to play first base on days when Ohtani is in the lineup.
The Angels are also set to add left-handed-hitting Justin Bour to the mix, as he agreed to terms on a one-year deal on Wednesday, according to a Major League source. But the move happened after Ausmus met with the media at the Winter Meetings, and Bour is expected to split time at first base with Pujols, serving as a lefty platoon partner.
"There's going to be a balance," Ausmus said. "There will be DH at-bats earlier in the season more available to [Pujols], and hopefully he gets off to a hot start. But for me, the bigger and the more delicate balance is, how often can he go to first? That's really the most important thing, based on the health of his knees."
Pujols, 38, has yet to be cleared to swing a bat after surgery, but he has been able to do some low-impact work on his lower body, general manager Billy Eppler said on Tuesday. Pujols hit .245/.289/.411 with 19 homers, 20 doubles and 64 RBIs in 117 games last season. He made 70 starts at first base after making six in 2017 and 28 in '16.

"My first hope is that Albert is OK," Ausmus said. "He's had the knee surgery, and I've spoken to him a couple times. He says he feels great. But we're still going to have to take it slowly in Spring Training. And then it's just going to be a matter of how he feels and how he's performing."
Ausmus is familiar with both players, as he faced Pujols during his playing career and Ausmus also spent this past season as a special assistant with the Angels, watching Ohtani and Pujols play throughout the year.

"In my mind, [Pujols] is one of the top five best hitters ever in the game of baseball," Ausmus said. "I saw him up close and personal when I was in Houston and they were in the National [League] and Central [Division], and the Cardinals as well. This guy is a phenomenal talent. But going forward, it's just going to be his health and performance. It's a performance-based game."
As for Ohtani, Ausmus compared his hitting ability to Tigers slugger Jose Cabrera, who Ausmus managed from 2014-17 with Detroit. He said they both have rare power to all fields and that Ohtani has the ability to get better with his contact rates.

"I remember watching him take batting practice the first day in Tempe when I was there, and the one thing that stood out is how the ball came off his bat," Ausmus said. "The only way I can describe it is it's very similar to Miguel Cabrera. And these guys have tremendous power. And even more notable, they have tremendous power to the opposite field. And you just don't see guys like that. The other thing that was really impressive was his speed."
Ausmus said he's excited to be able to have Ohtani's bat in the lineup, but it's still too early to know how much he'll be able to play. But Ausmus believes Ohtani improved enough against left-handed pitching that he won't be a platoon player at DH.
"It's kind of unchartered territory in the sense he's coming back from Tommy John, and we really want to protect that elbow so he can pitch in 2020 and beyond," Ausmus said. "He's such a dominant pitcher, you want to make sure you preserve that. So we're going to probably rely on the medical team a little more and be a little bit more cautious. Obviously, we want him back because we want his bat in the lineup. But the priority is to make sure when he's back we're not risking him as a pitcher."