It was quite a sight Tuesday morning as a smiling man in blue shorts and bright yellow leggings threw a bullpen session.

Kazuhisa Makita’s torso leans almost perpendicular to the ground and his right hand is, at its lowest, less than a foot off the dirt as he goes through his submarine delivery.

“It’s lower than low,” Padres manager Andy Green said of Makita’s delivery.

Makita varies the delivery slightly along with drastic changes in speed and the arc of his pitches.


“I saw him throwing pitches that looked like they were 35 mph going up there,” Green said. “’I’d never seen a pitch like that. It’s going to be really fun to watch. It will make you smile.”

The Padres hope Makita will elicit the opposite reaction from opponents.

“That is a unique look that I don’t think a lot of NL West hitters are going to be used to and I don’t think are going to handle well,” Green said. “… You typically don’t see guys coming from down there putting (the ball) at the top of the zone. And the reality of major league hitters is what you don’t see often, it’s really hard to hit. … We’re going to bank on that look being hard to adjust to.”

Many in the Padres organization met Makita for the first time Monday or Tuesday.


The 33-year old reliever from Japan was signed last month at a cost of $4.3 million for the next two years ($3.8 million in base salary plus a $500,000 posting fee paid to the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Pacific League).

Kid play

The Padres want to get a good look at the top prospects in major-league camp, and the Cactus League schedule offers them one way to finagle more innings for the young players.

In recent years, the Padres have had six days between their first full-squad workout and exhibition opener. This year, position players report on Monday, the first workout is Tuesday and the Padres play the Seattle Mariners three days later.

“From a position player standpoint, it’s pretty easy,” Green said “We’re going to get those guys on the baseball field. They’re going to play fairly significantly early on. It’s nice the way camp is set up. The first day of camp is the 20th, our first game is the 23rd, so some of the guys that typically (would play) out of the gate, those first games some of our veteran guys we might take a day or two longer to get them in ballgames.


“We’re not going to slow-play them by any stretch. But if Wil Myers and Chase Headley are going to profit from an extra couple days before their first game, we’ll watch our young guys play for a while, and we’ll be excited about it.”

That likely means fans won’t have to wait long to see Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Urias working the middle of the infield together. But this approach does not apply to the top pitching prospects in major-league camp.

“You’re not going to see them in the first four or five games,” Green said. “It’s because we’re thinking about the long term, not whether or not they can get out there and audition for us.”

The peculiar spring schedule is a result of the regular season starting earlier due to the new collective bargaining agreement assuring players more days off during the season.


Extra bases

Green said infielder Allen Cordoba might take a few extra days to be full-go after being involved in a car accident last week in Panama. Said Green: “He’s feeling the effects of that. We’ve all been in accidents before. You think you’re fine and you realize your bell is rung. He might be a little slow played to make sure his head is OK.”

Myers will work exclusively at first base — until/if the Padres sign free agent Eric Hosmer. Green said it wouldn’t “take a long amount of time for him to get comfortable back” in the outfield.

Robbie Erlin and Colin Rea (Tommy John surgery in 2016) threw off a mound Tuesday, as did Matt Strahm (patellar tendon surgery last summer). All three are expected to do everything other pitchers do except pitch in early Cactus League games. Strahm has some limitations working on defense but is expected to be fully healthy at some point this spring. All three are among those vying for what is likely one available spot in the starting rotation.

Reliever Carter Capps, who is coming off surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome, which is believed to have caused the blood clot that ended his 2017 season early, will be on what Green called a “slower progression” but otherwise a normal track to be ready for the season. One thing to consider as Capps attempts to make the major-league roster is that he is out of minor-league options. That means he would be subject to waivers if the Padres want to send him down.

A suggestion that made the rounds on Twitter Monday saying the Padres have talked with the Tampa Bay Rays about acquiring pitcher Chris Archer along with outfielder Denard Span was shot down by a team source.

kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com