PEORIA, Ariz. — Inside a hotel ballroom brimming with cameras, Japan’s latest top export spoke to a worldwide audience. A live television feed broadcast the news conference throughout the United States and across the Pacific Ocean. Some 200 onlookers parsed each facial expression and hung on every carefully worded response.



This was Wednesday afternoon. This was the latest event in the famous life of Shohei Ohtani.



Early Thursday morning, a light rain fell at the Peoria Sports Complex. One of Ohtani’s countrymen stood outside, next to a wall, as a pack of media members fanned around him. The gathering numbered in the teens.



For Kazuhisa Makita, the early attention here has been proportionate to his profile. A submariner who excelled in Japan, the right-hander is a novelty in the Padres’ camp. But at 33, armed with a fastball that usually reaches the low 80s, he does not qualify as a megawatt star. That title describes Ohtani, who...