Chunichi Dragons lefty Hitoki Iwase, who has saved more professional games than any other Japanese pitcher, gave up on his second bullpen session of the spring after just 16 pitches on Tuesday.

"I didn't get a good feeling when I was throwing. If I keep at it, I would just throw off my mechanics," said the 40-year-old, who was at times making faces and rubbing his left arm before cutting the session short.

Iwase has 402 career saves, but is coming off a season in which he appeared in a career-low 34 games, while posting a career-high 3.52 ERA. He said Tuesday's issue had nothing to do with elbow troubles that plagued him last year and denied feeling any pain.

"All I can do is take it one step at a time," he said of his preparations for the season.