Braves’ Kenshin Kawakami now on pace to go 0-25
Kenshin Kawakami appears to give himself the choke sign. He speaks for everybody.
Phil Niekro is a Hall of Famer. But he also owns an unfortunate page of the Atlanta Braves’ record book: The top five single-season records for most losses in a season: (20 losses twice and 18 three times).
Kenshin Kawakami? He is not a Hall of Famer. But he is on pace to provide Niekro with a cleansing breath — and Frank Wren with his career Waterloo.
Kawakami, quite possibly the worst free agent acquisition in Atlanta Braves history, lost again Tuesday night, this time 6-4 to Florida. He is now 0-7 after nine starts. At this pace, he will go 0-25 in 32 starts. He’ll make over $7.33 million this season. I wasn’t very good in math so I’m not sure yet how that factors out per victory.
There’s always the chance Kawakami’s arms will fall off or his transmission will blow. Presumably that would trigger the warranty. Wren did purchase the warranty, didn’t he?
When the Braves signed Kawakami last season, Wren proclaimed: “This is a very significant signing for the Braves Not only is this a historically-important day for the Braves franchise, but with Kenshin we have acquired a pitcher who will be an integral part of our pitching staff over the next three seasons.”
Thank you. Try the veal.
Wren gave Kawakami a three-year, $23 million contract. In year one, the pitcher went 7-12 with a 3.86 earned run average. Relatively speaking, that was a Cy Young season. This year he is 0-7 with a 4.93 ERA. He has allowed a staff high seven home runs and opponents are hitting .327 with a .500 slugging percentage.
(For the record, it’s unfair to lump Niekro in with this guy: Niekro actually went 21-20 and 19-18 in two of the record-losing seasons.)
Kawakami is getting better. He has allowed only three earned runs in 12 innings in the last two starts. Still not quite worth $23 million. At this point, he seems to be destined for the Zane Smith/Pascual Perez pallet of death. Smith went 1-12 with the Braves in 1989. Perez was the last Braves pitcher to start 0-7 (in 1985, when he finished 1-13).
Now all Kawakami needs to do is get lost on I-285 and Wren’s worst nightmare will be complete. (For the young or uninformed: Perez missed a start in 1982 when he circled I-285 looking for Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.)
Kawakami’s next scheduled start is Sunday against Pittsburgh. I promise I’m not making this next part up: Among the ex-Braves who will be there for fans to meet after the game: Zane Smith and Phil Niekro.
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182 comments Add your comment
meh
May 26th, 2010
9:23 am
I think Reggie Sanders was the worst Braves acquisition ever. That guy didn’t do anything the year he was here.
DP
May 26th, 2010
9:28 am
KK’s not even the worst free agent acquisition on the current Braves pitching staff. That would be Derek Lowe, who is paid more than twice as much and whose 2009-10 ERA is worse. What would Lowe’s won-loss record look like if he had received Kawakami’s run support?
The competition for the worst free agent acquisition in Braves history is pretty stiff. I think Andy Messersmith, Bruce Sutter and Nick Esasky would all rate ahead of Kawakami.
Pepe Frias played here.
May 26th, 2010
9:29 am
I really think that we keep Medlen in the rotation when JJ comes back. KK pitched a lot better in relief last year than he did in the starting rotation. As far as the worst free agent signing ever , i would have to argue Dan Kolb or Albie Lopez.
As far as the lack of run support, Niekro suffered through that in those twenty loss seasons, especially in 1979. In that year, the rotation was Niekro, Ruthven and whom ever we could scrap up. Remember Buddy Jay Soloman?
ASN
May 26th, 2010
9:31 am
How about Garrett Anderson for worst recent FA? Didn’t he bat 5th in the order? Geez.
Clay
May 26th, 2010
9:31 am
Son’t hold your breath, Brian from SC. I’ve noticed that sportswriters in all media, including ESPN, are largely ignoring the new stats, still throwing out the old ERA, RBI, stuff.
SowegaDawg
May 26th, 2010
9:32 am
#10=Rally Killer, over and over again. Move him down to #6 in the order starting tonight—-PLEASE!!!
ASN
May 26th, 2010
9:33 am
ESPN has done a much better job recently. Check out this blog, which I think is pretty darn good: http://capitolavenueclub.com/
Clay
May 26th, 2010
9:33 am
Brian from SC and Brian, I think you’ve made Schultzie pout . . .
Brian
May 26th, 2010
9:33 am
I’m just a little offended he responded to so many folks, but totally ignored mine. I made very reasoned, salient points that I thought deserved some response, since he seems not to be shy about making replies to folks.
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. It was a very lazy article, and since he didn’t think or analyze with any depth to begin with, why should I expect him to do so in response to me?
Brian from SC
May 26th, 2010
9:34 am
By the way, Brian is the same as me…for some reason it keeps on deleting the “from SC” part, and I have to keep adding it.
Oddibe McDowell
May 26th, 2010
9:37 am
Nick Esasky was definitely the worst free agent ever for the Bravos. When it comes to terrible pitching for this franchise, the late 80’s bullpen of the “Ghastly Boys” would have to win.
Pat Mycrotch
May 26th, 2010
9:38 am
KICK HIS A** OFF THE TEAM!!!
Clay
May 26th, 2010
9:40 am
Huh, ASN? G Anderson wasn’t great, but his ‘09 numbers are probably unreachable this season by the guy currently batting 3rd in the order. Just saying …
Delbert D.
May 26th, 2010
9:43 am
What is the average ERA of all of the other NL 5th starters?
Mr Miyagi
May 26th, 2010
9:50 am
Jeff Son, you need press and hold backspace key when writing column this bad. Press and hold. Press and hold. Goooood.
ASN
May 26th, 2010
9:52 am
First, G. Anderson had an .303 OBP in 2009. That’s pretty bad. And I was thinking about recent FA signing to give us a recent comparison around the time KK was signed. (D Lowe is probably the worst, of them all).
Second, Chipper’s done better than G. Anderson. I think his hits will come around, too.
Ph.D.
May 26th, 2010
9:53 am
The Braves have to hit, period. No need to throw Kawakami under the bus. This could easily be Lowe or JJ. What is the team’s batting average? How many runs does the team score daily on average, less the once a week 10 + runs? Suck it up, grin and bear it, pull yourself up by the bootstraps–my derriere.
ASN
May 26th, 2010
9:54 am
By the way, did the comments on this post actually scare Jeff off? He was responding a lot, and then, once pointed arguments were made attacking his analysis, he leaves?
Come back Jeff, this is all in good fun. You must expect criticism, right?
Reality 4
May 26th, 2010
10:01 am
Calling KK as the worst free agent signing is ridiculous. He has kept the Braves in the game most, if not all, of his starts this year. Even yesterday, if Prado had knocked the ball down in front of him, the first run wouldn’t have scored.
One of the problems he had last year was his control – he could barely go past 5 innings because of his pitch count. He’s been doing better in that category the last few starts. At this point, though, it is becoming a psychological thing. I think he might be trying too hard not to make mistakes.
Clay
May 26th, 2010
10:06 am
G Anderson: .268 ave, 13 hrs, 61 rbi. Chipper better pick up the pace, ASN!
I really don’t know if he can, either. Didn’t Chipper bat right around .200 for the second half of last season? Chipper’s new norm may be .225 with little power.
TommyJack
May 26th, 2010
10:08 am
Ah, memories of Zane Smith. STILL captain of the all-ugly team.
heartofdarkness
May 26th, 2010
10:09 am
Jeff,
The probability of someone being able to achieve a record of 0-25 is astronomically small. From what I have been reading, you should be a bond trader on Wall Street. And maybe KK would like to be your quant.
An Adult
May 26th, 2010
10:10 am
Rey … great to be first is something as important as this eh? I hope you put it on your resume. Oh, sorry, middle schoolers don’t know what that is… some day, when you grow up and try to be first at something that counts, you will know what a resume is… in the mean time, keep glued to the internet to be first on sports writers’ blogs for a local newspaper. If you can’t go and play a sport, then at least you can keep sniffing the jocks of wannabe sports writers.
ASN
May 26th, 2010
10:16 am
Haha, Clay. I know. His numbers are down this year, but his OBP is still great. He’s no longer a bona fide # 3 hitter, though.
FSUSEMINOLES
May 26th, 2010
10:19 am
kawakami need to ask for a trade because THA BRAVES SUCK THAAAAAAAAAAAAA BRAVES SUCK
Melky C.
May 26th, 2010
10:20 am
Lets play a little game called “Guess Who”
I play almost everyday.
I’m 85th in the NL in Batting Average.
I’m tied for 99th in the NL in Home Runs.
I’m tied for 94th in the NL in RBIs.
I’m tied for 104th in the NL in Hits.
I’m 82nd in the NL in Slugging Percentage.
I’m 92nd in the NL in Runs Scored.
But hey…I’m 17th in the NL in OBP!
My name is Chipper Jones. Quality bat hitting 3rd every day!
DP
May 26th, 2010
10:20 am
Jeff, if you had any interest in being fair to Kawakami instead of inciting a lynch mob you might have mentioned that in his start prior to the one last night he left the game with a 4-0 lead and the bullpen coughed up the lead before Heyward won the game 5-4 in the last at bat with an RBI double.
6375309
May 26th, 2010
10:21 am
–So jeff will pile on the asian guy who gets no run support, but defends tooth and nail the 14-million/yr Black Hole batting third, or the obviously incompetent hitting coach, or the senile lard-assed manager…
bvillebaron
May 26th, 2010
10:23 am
DP:
It should be patently obvious to all who read their blogs that neither Jeff nor Mark have any interest in being fair and analytical about anything.
freshd
May 26th, 2010
10:36 am
If WREN wants to save face, why dont he just trade managers with the MARLINS while the BRAVES are down there. It would be so easy, and all they would have to do is change dugouts, and uniforms. FRANK could even throw in CHIPPER and TP too, and KK, MELKY, and NATE and YUNEL..
Mr Miyagi
May 26th, 2010
10:37 am
Yeah, he piles on the Asian guy!!
Eli
May 26th, 2010
10:39 am
vin i totally agree kris medlen has the arm to go 6 or 7 innings and kawakami only has about an inning a game where he allows some so if we move him 2 middle relief it will be good and the braves will get back on track also we need to get escobar goin
Tom B.
May 26th, 2010
10:41 am
anyone else out there tired of Chipper excuses….”the ball didn’t fall………….i hit it on the nose…….i’m struggling. The best thing Frank Wren can do other than quit, is to force Chipper toaccept a trade to the AL, or force him to retire now. The second thing he needs to do is send Kawakami to the minors.
hawesg
May 26th, 2010
10:43 am
Worst FA signing? You forget the ’80s. Bruce “Ouch” Sutter and Nick “Bat? What Bat?” Esasky.
Those were worse because unlike the Kenny Kamakaze signing, they strangled the club for years.
Tucker T
May 26th, 2010
10:51 am
I was also going to mention Esasky as the worst FA signing but that was only $5.6M over three years in 1989. Even given inflation I still don’t think you can get to KK’s money. Also, Esasky was forced to retire after only 35 at bats in the first season of the contract due to his illness and the insurance paid the remainder of his contract. I would also suspect that insurance paid a large part of Sutter’s contract as well because he was hurt so much. Unless KK turns it around this season and next, I think he would probably be the worst FA signing in Braves history.
Timmy
May 26th, 2010
11:02 am
Overheard from the Braves front offices after Kawakami loses 7th game of year to go 0-7 : “Shut up just pay me.” – Kevin Kawakami
Dwayne
May 26th, 2010
11:46 am
Booby, TP, Chumper and Yunice need to GO…..I can hear Bob Qui Qui now…Sekerrity!!!!
Dwayne
May 26th, 2010
11:47 am
*Bon*
Zack
May 26th, 2010
12:17 pm
Wow Shultz… you obviously have no idea what you are talking about. All you use are wins and losses to prove your point. This was the same pitcher that out dueled Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, and pitched a fairly decent game against Tim Lincecum in his first start of the season. The reason why he is 0-7 is because we don’t give him any run support. Yet, when Derek Lowe pitches, runs just seem to come out of Bobby’s ass. Kawakami is 0-7 and STILL has a lower ERA than Derek Lowe. Why don’t you get on his case? He makes $15 million a year, yet I don’t see a column about how we he was the worst free agent signing in Braves history. Here’s a bit of a stat for you:
“Here’s the run support the Braves have given Kawakami this season: 2, 0, 2, 0, 2, 3, 0, 4, and now, 2. Of the 148 pitchers with at least five starts this season entering Tuesday, Kawakami ranked 137th in run support.” Please tell me how you are supposed to get a win if you get that kind of run support. Let’s look at Derek Lowe’s run support this season
Derek Lowe: 15, 7, 9, 3, 4, 7, 0, 9, 2, 4.
Do some research first before you decide to write a pointless article. I can guarantee you that Kawakami would be a #3 or #4 starter in other rotations.
castle
May 26th, 2010
12:20 pm
Jeff, I can’t fathom why the AJC is paying you to write about baseball if you think that W/L record is an indicator of pitcher performance. Maybe you should try looking at ERA to evaluate how KK has pitched, or god forbid more advanced statistics. The fact that you’re picking on him instead of Lowe (who has a higher ERA and a higher salary) smells a little like racism to me, but I’ll gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you simply don’t know how to evaluate pitcher performance
Jeff Schultz
May 26th, 2010
12:26 pm
Thanks, Brian from SC, Zack, and others who actually do research before posting, thereby making me look like an uninformed hack.
Zack
May 26th, 2010
12:41 pm
Good job getting ownedswordian at your own column.
GTmasterZ
May 26th, 2010
12:47 pm
Am I the only one who is peeved at Escobar and Chipper. I mean Infante was hitting well above .300 last time he was a regular in the line up and Escobar is barely touching .180.
Chipper is definitely a HOF in my books but the way he is swinging the bat these days, I am in utter disbelief. He had two chances yesterday to drive in runs and what does he do? Hits the ball into a double play and gets out to end the inning. Bobby should realize that he owes Chipper nothing and if he is not performing then let Conrad start for him, its not like Conrad can be worse than him defensively.
extremus
May 26th, 2010
1:06 pm
Mr. Schultz,
There’s an interesting article about minor league pitcher (and a guy who’s played stints for a few big-league clubs before having Tommy John surgery) Chris Resop on MLBTradeRumors.com that my brother just directed me to; they’re comparing his recent work in the Braves’ minor league system in some ways to Stephen Strasburg, in that he too has been dominant. I’ve copied and pasted some of his numbers from the article below:
Resop has a 2.03 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. He has not been pitching deep into games, but he has allowed just 34 hits in 48.2 innings.
The big deal about this story is that there’s a clause in Resop’s contract which requires the Braves either to promote him to the Major League level by June 14 or allow him to be picked up by another team. Given Kawakami’s struggles (which fairly are not all his fault; Lowe’s ERA and effectiveness are at least as bad) bringing up Resop to fill the fifth starter position could be at least a short-term positive solution. Kawakami could do long relief perhaps, but leaving him out there as a starter right now with the run support and plain bad luck he’s having would be detrimental to both him and the Braves’ playoff chances.
What are your thoughts on this? Considering I didn’t even know Resop was on the Braves’ minor league roster until today, with stats like that I’m sure he can’t stay under the radar for very long.
jerry
May 26th, 2010
1:38 pm
Why is Jeff picking on a non star when this is plenty to say about Chipper and his 8 month “slump” and that old fart who keeps hitting him third? I guess they are untouchable “stars” huh?
ijudgenot
May 26th, 2010
1:54 pm
Chipper, Chipper,Chipper, this year is a repeat in a lot of ways to last year. Last year it was Escobar who was tearing the cover off the ball and arguably the Braves best run producer with a rediculous batting average with runners in scoring position. However, with Chipper having a down year in power numbers he was never moved out of the 3 spot and Escobar put there. This year its Heyward hitting with power numbers and Chipper still having low power numbers but continues to occupy the 3 spot in batting order. I know the excuse Cox will give is that he was and is protecting Escobar and Heyward. That having Chipper bat behind them would assure them geting good pitches to hit, is there anyone who believes pitchers now are saying “lets let Heyward hit the ball cause we don’t want to walk him ahead of Chipper”. Its like Chipper batting any place other than 3 or 4 would be a challenge to his manhood or something. Cox switch Chipper and Heyward in the order for a couple of weeks. If Heyward goes in a slump you can always switch him back, but to leave things as they are and see Chipper flounder at driving in runs is doing a disservice to the potential Heyward has and to the legacy that Chipper has earned over the years.
sidslid
May 26th, 2010
1:58 pm
I wonder if there has ever been a 20 game loser on a team with a winning record?
Wnen Jurrjens comes back, does Medlen stay in rotation?
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
May 26th, 2010
2:39 pm
I honestly believe KK will finish closer to 1-24 than 0-25.
Braves are bound to score 10-or-15 runs in one of his starts.
coo coo bird fan
May 26th, 2010
2:45 pm
Kawakami doesn’ t get the run support, period! U don’t like that excuse then your ignoring the FACTS. Lowe has a higher era and How many games has he won, not to mention a 8 million dollar difference. HIs luck will turn, I thought it was the Pitt game but Chavez messed that one up also. I stull like Venters in the 5th starter role, we need a lefty in the rotation. He has nasty stuff and needs a shot. Love Medlen but would like a lefty better.
Algenis
May 26th, 2010
2:48 pm
The fact that you didn’t include the total run support that KK gets per inning makes this article irrelevant.
KK deserves much better then his record indicates. How about the WORST OFFENSE IN BRAVES HISTORY!!!!!!!!
How about mentioning that a major league roster has about 4 or 5 players hitting under .200???? What pitcher wins with an offense that is that crapy????? An offense that is lead by an ex-utility player and a 20 year old rookie????
KK has done a nice job. Os he worth $23 million, NO! But at the end of the day, this is a team sport and. For the most part he is doing his share.