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
Algenis
May 26th, 2010
2:54 pm
Another point…Bobby needs to stop being a punk and move Chipper down in the order. He’s hurting this team. Heyward should be batting 3rd. And another thing. Escober needs to get deported back to Cuba. This guy is an automatic ground-out. Play Omar Infante!!
Jojo the Monkey Boy
May 26th, 2010
4:05 pm
Don’t blame others who actually have some semblence of intelligence on the subject for making you look like a hack. You did that all on your own.
And to the guy who is saying KK is the worst Japanese signing, you also need to learn what you are talking about before opening your mouth. Among several examples, see Kei Igawa, who is getting the same from the Yankees for pitching much worse than KK does, but doing it in AAA.
droopydawg
May 26th, 2010
4:06 pm
I believe you meant “young or uninformed” not “young or uniformed”
chip caray's eyebrows
May 26th, 2010
4:42 pm
THANK YOU SCHULTZ!!
Cut the run support crap. His ERA is horrible. I don’t care how many runs they score for him, that has NOTHING to do with his ERA. He pitches well LAST YEAR at times against some good pitchers, but every dang pitcher in the big leagues can do that on a given night. I don’t get the sympathy for him from bloggers, announcers etc. He has a 23 million dollar contract, he is 0-7 with a near 5.00 ERA, and yet it’s all bad luck. Why must you defend the guy? He makes no excuses (which i respect), why should you? Run support is an argument for a guy who is 2-5 with a 2.50 ERA. Did you ever think about why they don’t score runs for him? Take last night. They get him a 2-1 lead, and bam, he gives up a long homer to the first batter he faces. That kills morale. I have nothing against the guy personally, but he gets paid to do a job, and he has not done that job. Quit making excuses for him.
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May 26th, 2010
7:40 pm
[...] ♦ Braves’ Kenshin Kawakami now on pace to go 0-25 [...]
MitchC
May 26th, 2010
7:47 pm
Jeff, unless I’m missing something, while you did say KK is on pace to go 0-25, you did not say what you think needs to be done about him. Should Bobby keep him in the rotation? Demote him to the pen? Send him to the minors? I doubt he’d be released due to his contract, but, what do you think is the solution for what to do with KK?
JSS
May 26th, 2010
9:18 pm
@ Jeff Schultz…
It’s freakin’ 65 degrees, cool breeze my Pink’s Hot Dog!!! Thank goodness I’m getting paid for this!!!
Here are five words: Bruce Sutter and Nick Esasky! The debate begins and ends there… Kawakami is a scape goat for the lack of run support (I grew up watching that sadness with Niekro, Ron Reed, Zane Smith and Buzz Capra) and a bullpen incapable of holding a lead when he was actually winning a game (vs. Cincy)! By the way, go look at his last 5 starts, really look at his pitching line…
eww
May 26th, 2010
11:44 pm
I get sick of all the jack legs bashing Bobby all the time.
I will just have to figure that when he’s no longer manager next year that we will begin a run of world series titles that will be second to none.
Bruce Funk
May 27th, 2010
1:09 am
Awesome. To this day, when I get bored, I will tell my friend I’m going out for a “Pascual Perez” for time to think. This, of course, means I’m taking a trek around I-285 for music and meditation. Sometimes (not during rush hour), it’s just fun to pull a Perez.
Justin
May 27th, 2010
8:15 am
This might be the dumbest article that I’ve read since I used to read Highlights as a kid. Several games were lost for Kenshin, who held the opposing team to a limited amount of runs.
How can you call out a 0-25 season when we’re about 1/4th the way through the year?
Marty
May 27th, 2010
8:20 am
This may be the dumbest Braves-related article I’ve ever read, which is saying a lot. I’ll repeat what others have said about Kenshin not even being the worst PRESENT free-agent starting pitcher acquisition on the Braves (here’s looking at you, Derek Lowe), let alone the worst free-agent acquisition by the Braves all-time. Yes, I remember Nick Esasky. How about Jim Presley?
Also, KK obviously has not even pitched that poorly this year, and he actually pitched quite well for the majority of last season.
Lastly, Coach is — as usual — a moron.
come n
May 27th, 2010
8:58 am
the people that say well KK is just getting bad luck and no runs behind him, well let me tell u something he is 0-7 and an era over 4. u dont get there with bad luck, u get there by not being any good
Joey M
May 27th, 2010
1:01 pm
Amazingly enough, that would still put him behind Anthony Young for most consecutive losses without a win. KK will get a win. He is a good pitcher. The balls that are falling against him will start to get caught. He is better than Lowe. I would rather have Medlen and KK in the rotation than have Lowe in it.
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May 27th, 2010
1:50 pm
[...] ♦ Braves’ Kenshin Kawakami now on pace to go 0-25 [...]
John
May 27th, 2010
3:58 pm
i have lost faith in Kawakami. he will never be a quality pitcher. and dont give me that crap about how he makes some good pitches. yea sometimes the runs dont come in, but you would figure he would be better than just average in at least one of those starts. i bet my sushi chef could pitch better than him, at least he looks just like him. (no joke they could be twins)
ryan
May 27th, 2010
4:38 pm
The Braves need to move Kenshin to the bullpen like NOW!!! Call up another player or sign a pitcher until Jurrjens gets back and is healthy enough to pitch. The Braves also need to upgrade their outfield. I wouldn’t necessarily say get someone with power but get someone that atleast hits for average and will get on base. But for right now, play Melky over McLousy!!!
ChiTownBravesFan
May 27th, 2010
4:55 pm
You are all missing the point. This wonderful contract forced us to give away Javy Vazquez. Instead of competing this year for a division, we will now have to wait for the power arms in our system, which are fantastic, to be ready to contribute around 2012. A rotation of Hanson, JJ, Delgado, Teheran, Minor, Medlen, Hudson in some form with Heyward, McCann, Freeman leading the offense will be a team that competes for WS titles for awhile. We have a Rays like wave of talent about ready to explode, it’s just a shame that we will be fighting for wild card spots until then due to bad planning.
Dorothy Davis
May 27th, 2010
5:07 pm
I have a comment for Jeff Schultz: You call yourself a sports writer, but obviously you haven’t been watching the games Kenshin Kawakami has pitched. If you had, you would have known that the team has NEVER given him any run support and when they did give him a couple runs, the bull pen blew it for him. So pay attention before you make stupid comments.
Schultz doesn't actually watch
May 28th, 2010
1:36 am
Everyone on here that focuses on record is purely an idiot. Plain and simple, no further discussion required.
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May 28th, 2010
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SG10
May 28th, 2010
9:18 am
Jeff,
I think you are being rough on the guy. I know his ERA is terrible but ERA of 4.5 means he gives up average of 3 runs in every 6 innings. That should buy him more wins than Zero. I think he has also been quite unlucky but I do believe over 162 games, luck averages out so we should see him with better luck and more wins…and far from projected 25 losses.
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Anon21
May 28th, 2010
12:32 pm
Jeff Schultz: Worst freelancer signing in AJC history?
Sorry, I try not to be petty and nonsubstantive like that, but honestly…evaluating pitchers in terms of wins? Is this 1910 or 2010?
Gary
May 28th, 2010
12:34 pm
I like Kawakami. He is much better than his record, but the Braves havent scored many runs for him and they seem to play horrible defense behind him. I’ve seen him go toe to toe with some of the best pitchers in the league. At the very least, he consistently eats a lot of innings while giving the Braves a chance to win. Derek Lowe on the other hand gets great run support so has a much better record, despite his lousy ERA. We got a lot more for our money with Kawakami than Lowe, not even close.
JC from DR
May 28th, 2010
3:00 pm
Sometimes i wonder how can a ”writer” like Jeff Schultz have a job! Writing about a sport he clearly knows nothing about?
KK is a good pitcher who has found himself in the center of an incredible bad luck, most of his losses have been due to the lack of offense the Braves bring to the table whenever he’s on the mound, and you’re saying KK is the worst aquisition in Braves history? OMG!
Reggie Sanders, Vinny Castilla, Derek Lowe (who could easily be 1-7 if it wasn’t for the fact that the Braves scored a lot of runs in his first couple of starts, which were all atrocious)… and a lot more people who simply $uck balls during their time with the Braves.
Who the real KK is? I saw him outduel Halladay, I saw him pitch a gem last year at LA, a couple of starts back he didn’t allow a single run, but the bullpen screwed up, against the POS Mets he pitched a quality game and the Braves didn’t even scored. A lot of quality starts where the Braves failed to score runs to back him up, that’s what KK has gone through.
What a frikking writer…
csg
May 28th, 2010
3:21 pm
I love it when people evaluate pitcher’s performances based on wins and losses. Its about as useful of a stat as RBI’s. Im sure you feel that Hanson sucked the night he gave up 1 unearned run and picked up the loss too. Kenshin has a career 4.1ERA 1.35WHIP in ATL and you think he’s the worst FA signing of all time. He’s cheaper and better than D Lowe, check any stat other than wins/losses and compare the two. You my friend are clueless.
BluesMan
May 28th, 2010
8:55 pm
All due respect Jeff,
Let’s be realistic about Kawakami, his run support is…erm…well..PATHETIC. If there’s two things they (the team) needs to change offensively is giving KK better run support & doing better against other starters in our division. In 3 starts that KK has had this year…I think Bobby pulled him too early, & should’ve let him pitch himself out of trouble…he was doing that really well last year. (Not on the Bobby Cox hate train, however no-one’s perfect) Although most of his starts have been rough for this year, he IS showing signs of improvement. Again, there’s one element missing in his starts that would make his record look like it should…RUN SUPPORT.
I hear the fans whining & moping about overpaid pitchers…is D-Lowe overpaid? Probably, but he was a necessary ingredient to solidifying our rotation after ‘08…It would’ve been idealistic to sign him for 10-13 mil./yr. I do think he’s worth that. Although we haven’t seen it, he’s consistency as an innings eater & a veteran presence (the fruits of that we won’t see until Medlen becomes a mainstay in the rotation, Lowe has mentored him some). Is KK overpaid? I’d also say yes (I’d have offered between 5-7mil./yr. However, KK is being criticized for ALL the wrong reasons.
You want to know the worst & most overpaid starting pitcher we’ve ever had? Good ‘ol MIKE HAMPTON. What a waste of payroll & time. God forgive me, but I laughed & said good riddance when I read that he was hurt YET AGAIN after going to Houston for less money. You foolish fans think D-Lowe & KK are bad? Just think about what ‘wonders’ (cynicism & sarcasm) Hampton did for our team.
is30303
May 29th, 2010
12:32 am
wow. this may be the absolute dumbest article i’ve every read in the AJC. . . what happened to journalistic integrity? Lets address the obvious:
1. Comparing Phil Niekro to KK?? Hall Of Fame pitcher to a backend rotation starter. . . nice.
2. Ignore ERA is based on innings pitcher: KK can’t go 6 innings so he’s ERA is inflated – this is he is number one problem, he needs to go past 6 innings BUT. . .
3. When you get this for run support: 2, 0, 2, 0, 2, 3, 0, 4, and now, 2, you’re going to get yanked for a pinch hitter.
4. He gave up 5 runs once, and besides that it has been 2,4,3,4,3,3,0,3
5. Oh, yeah, thats including the runs given up by our bullpen after he’s out of the game
6. You replied: just get wins and Tired of excuses? so this is no longer a team game? What do you want, KK to start jacking homeruns? idiot. this is baseball. there are other players on the team. One man cannot win games by himself. Ask Zack Grienke.
Hey man, just admit the truth of the matter and say you’re a racist and you don’t think certain people should be in the Major Leagues. You’d at least be respected for telling the truth, instead of spewing this garbage. This is Atlanta, there is a market for racists like you, don’t worry. People will still love you even if you hate people based on the color of their skin. Be open about your racism but don’t be an absolute idiot and write articles like this, you’ll lose your integrity.
Woody Woodward
May 29th, 2010
2:12 pm
I remember Braves fans thought it was Christmas when Ted signed Andy Messersmith. We found rocks in our socks.
As for KK, he’s the best 0-7 pitcher I’ve seen in a while.
ray k.
May 29th, 2010
5:36 pm
Stats aside, Derek Lowe has been a worse signing. As was the case last year, his ERA is higher, his reputation as a front of the rotation starter more established, and his salary bigger. Derek has been a huge bust–I don’t care how many wins he has. Blaine Boyer could have 7 wins with the kind of run support Derek gets.
Pirates Will Win Against Braves Kawakami Helping Him Pursue Neikros Records | Rum Bunter | A Pittsburgh Pirates Blog
May 30th, 2010
11:22 am
[...] of Famer. Joe Neikro has the top five single season loss records for a Braves pitcher. Kawakami is on pace for an 0-25 season. The Atlanta press is calling him the worst free agent acquisition in history, and well, sort of [...]
DJTT
June 1st, 2010
1:51 am
Kawakami has almost identical stats to Lowe who has notched 7 wins and those wins are only because of run support. Please research a little bit more before you slam a pitcher who has provided some quality starts with nothing to show for it because of low run support and some bad luck. Obviously Bobby Cox feels like he deserves some more starts before he sits him down and that is very warranted.