Yusei Kikuchi (shoulder) faces hitters in live BP

Kikuchi’s bullpen session was the first since he was shut down with his shoulder injury. The left-hander will assuredly need to complete a few more sessions — and then at least a pair of rehab starts — before he could be an option for the Angels’ rotation later in the second half of the season.

Nothing has changed in the prognosis for the 34-year-old hurler, this was done as a procedural move on Friday to free up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster for the promotion of Wade Meckler and Donovan Walton. Kikuchi is dealing with inflammation in his pitching shoulder and has been shut down through the end of May before he starts to build back up again.

Suzuki added that Kikuchi has opted for the rest and rehabilitation route instead of undergoing shoulder surgery, which likely would’ve been season-ending. The 34-year-old southpaw, who hit the injured list with shoulder inflammation over the weekend, will need to build up his stamina and workload from the ground floor once he’s cleared to resume throwing in a couple weeks. It’s relatively safe to assume he won’t return until sometime around the All-Star break in July. It’ll be Sam Aldegheri getting the first opportunity to replace Kikuchi in Los Angeles’ rotation when he takes the ball against the White Sox on Tuesday night.

DiGiovanna covered the Angels for decades when he was working with The Times, so it would make sense for him to still have sources connected to the organization. A multiple-month absence for shoulder inflammation is also not an unrealistic outcome, so much of this makes sense. The Angels have not yet confirmed any timeline for Kikuchi, but if he were to miss an extended period of time, Caden Dana would figure to get a chance to stick in the rotation until Grayson Rodriguez (shoulder) or Alek Manoah (finger) make their season debut.

The Angels are still reviewing the results of Kikuchi’s recent MRI exam, so there’s no word yet or how long the 34-year-old left-hander is expected to be sidelined for. The fact that he has already been placed on the injured list doesn’t bode well though. Tayler Saucedo was promoted from Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Kikuchi was sent for imaging after being pulled from Wednesday’s start in the third inning due to soreness in his shoulder. They should know the results in the next day or so, after which they can make a determination on Kikuchi’s status. It looks increasingly likely that he’ll require a trip to the injured list.

Kikuchi came out to warm up in the third inning, but he didn’t throw a pitch before the trainer came out, and the two left the field together. Kikuchi had thrown two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking one on the day. Mitch Farris is in the game to replace him and could also replace him in the starting rotation if Kikuchi has to go on the injured list.

Kikuchi’s record now sits at 0-3 on the season. The veteran lefty got off to a strong start in this one, retiring the side in order in the first inning while keeping the Royals off the board until the fourth. Things came apart in the fourth frame for Kikuchi after he allowed two of the first three batters he faced to reach base, which led to Bobby Witt Jr. scoring on a fielder’s choice. The Royals would then string together four straight hits, including back-to-back doubles, to push their lead to 5-0. Kikuchi would pitch a scoreless fifth before exiting, but the damage had already been done. He’ll have a good chance to pick up his first win of the season next Wednesday when he takes the mound against the White Sox.

Kikuchi generated 12 swings-and-misses to get the eight punchouts, and he allowed just four hits without issuing a walk. That’s the second time in three starts he’s reached that level of strikeouts, but this was easily his best start of the season in the first month of the campaign. Kikuchi has shown almost zero consistency in his MLB career, but there are enough outings like this to keep fantasy managers curious. He’ll try and match this effort Friday against the Royals.

Kikuchi was clearly off tonight. While his fastball velocity was pretty normal, the rest of his pitches were all down one or two mph. For his changeup, it was actually closer to three mph. He walked four and gave up homers to Aaron Judge and José Caballero. Now possessing a 7.50 ERA, Kikuchi seems like a particularly poor mixed-league option. He’ll face the Padres on Saturday.