LAKELAND, Fla. -- Colt Keith walked out of the batter's box shaking his head, then looked back out to the mound. Tanner Kohlhepp, having just fanned Keith, was kicking at the dirt, getting ready for another hitter.

It was one of just two swings and misses Kohlhepp induced Friday morning in his first session against live batters since his final college appearance for Notre Dame last June, but one of several awkward at-bats. Neither Keith, nor Gage Workman, nor Eric De La Rosa squared him up. All they could manage was a foul tip or soft contact.

None looked comfortable watching Kohlhepp throw with velocity from the side of his body.

“It’s different,” Workman said. “That’s when it’s nice to be a switch-hitter. You don’t have to face him right-on-right. But his ball looked really good. Good velo, good offspeed, good mix.”

Dillon Dingler was happy to catch rather than try to hit.

“I wouldn’t go as far as a sidewinder. I would say more low three-quarters,” Dingler said of Kohlhepp's arm angle. “But just how much movement he has on his pitches and how well he’s able to pitch to different spots, I mean, it’s a lot of fun.”

Kohlhepp felt happy about it.

“This is kind of what we’ve been working for, ever since I got drafted,” the right-hander said. “Now I can face hitters and show what we can do. It felt good, just a culmination of the hard work to get to this point and now finally to have something to show for it and just continue to build on.”

The work begs the question of how Kohlhepp began throwing like that. The answer, like Kohlhepp himself, is complicated.

He was the top-rated high-school shortstop in Wisconsin in 2018 according to Perfect Game. He threw from the same angle as he pitched, and he threw 93 mph from the side at a Perfect Game event.

“I didn’t really want to try and, you know, look like a pitcher,” Kohlhepp said. “I just wanted to look like how I would naturally throw and not really tinker with that a whole lot, because it is unique.”

That led him to the University of Tennessee in 2019. After two perfect innings in as many appearances, he allowed five runs on two hits and three walks against Fresno State, retiring only one batter. He had two other appearances where he walked two batters without recording an out. He finished the season throwing barely half his pitches for strikes.

Kohlhepp transferred to Iowa Western junior college, where he posted a 4.98 ERA in five starts but fanned 30 batters over 21 2/3 innings, including an eight-strikeout outing. He tweaked and tinkered with pitches, but the COVID pandemic ended the season before he could further refine his game.

“I was pretty hard on myself my first couple years,” Kohlhepp admits. “I just expected a lot, and if I struggled, I didn’t really have much of a mental game.”

His talent was obvious enough to lead him to Notre Dame. Instead of starting, Kohlhepp pitched out of the bullpen, where his arm angle would provide a different look to hitters.

Still, it wasn’t easy. Kohlhepp allowed four runs on two hits and two walks without retiring a batter in his Irish debut against Wake Forest, and then he allowed three hits and one walk in 1 2/3 innings against Clemson.

“My coaches at Notre Dame, they were very good about telling me, ‘Hey, don’t pressure yourself so much. Don’t worry about it,’” Kohlhepp said. “They were like, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job. You’re doing what you need to do. Just go out there and perform. You’re plenty good enough.’

“It was nice to have that support, and that really helped me.”

The next week, he tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings against Virginia, followed by three more to earn a win over Duke. By season’s end, he had 65 strikeouts over 61 1/3 innings, seven wins and a 3.08 ERA that ranked fifth among ACC pitchers. His .197 batting average allowed was the third lowest in the conference.

The Tigers have tried different looks in their bullpen in the past. They got a productive season out of sidearmer Louis Coleman in 2018 for then-skipper Ron Gardenhire. They drafted another sidearmer, Ethan DeCaster, from Duke in the 18th round that June, and then acquired Nolan Blackwood from Oakland in the Mike Fiers trade. Neither has pitched in the Majors.

Kohlhepp has a similar look, but with more velocity and variety. He can challenge hitters at the top of the strike zone with a 95-96 mph fastball, play off that with a cutter and throw a changeup that looks the same out of his hand. Add in a slurve, and Kohlhepp has a full arsenal. With all the technology in camp, Kohlhepp is learning more how to use his style.

He has enough pitches that scouting director Scott Pleis said after drafting him the Tigers could use him as a starter. That could depend on the organization’s pitching depth. He could move through the system more quickly as a reliever, honing his arsenal to just two or three pitches.

Kohlhepp is up for whatever helps him get to Detroit. But he also admits the adrenaline of the bullpen helps him.

“You just come in there and let it rip, and feed off that initial energy,” he said. “I do like that.”

Kohlhepp is one of seven or eight pitchers that Dingler has caught so far in camp. As far as Dingler is concerned, he’s the most impressive.

“He’s really good, at a really good spot for his age, just entering in,” Dingler said. “He’s got a lot of different pitches that move a lot of different ways, and I feel like he’s got a perfect amount of confidence to be able to throw them in situations that he wants to. So it’s just going to be a fun time to catch him and work with him.”