MLB New Import Tracker 2009: Kenshin Kawakami

Thirty-three-year-old Kenshin Kawakami became the first Japanese-born player in Atlanta Braves history when he signed for three years and $23M this past December. At his first American press conference, he immediately ingratiated himself with the hometown media, introducing himself by saying:

“Hello, my name is Kenshin Kawakami—y’all can call me Kenshin.”

Pretty funny stuff.

The Braves either outbid or out-bargained several other ballclubs to sign Kenshin, including the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles. GM Frank Wren and current advisor (and former GM) John Schuerholz wanted to bring a Japanese player to Atlanta, and they found their man in Kenshin, who posted a career 112-72 record over 11 seasons for the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Baseball League.

His career strikeout-to-walk ratio is just south of 4/1; in 2004, his banner season, he went 17-7 with a 3.32 ERA and 177 Ks en route to taking home the Sawamura Award and being named MVP of the Central League. In 2006 he became the highest-paid pitcher in Japan.

Stateside fans saw him most recently in the 2008 Olympics—he entered the Bronze Medal Game against the USA in relief, with the score tied at four, and gave up a double and two-run homer to cost Japan their shot at a medal.

In Atlanta he'll slide into the fourth spot in the starting rotation behind Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, and Javier Vazquez.* This should be a nice, low-key way for Kenshin to get a taste of big-league baseball. He's not being relied upon to be the ace of the staff, and there's nowhere more laid back than Atlanta (any TBS broadcast proves this point—watching the Braves on TBS provides nearly as good a nap as any Grand Slam tournament).**

Stuff-wise, according to NPB Tracker, Kenshin features a cut fastball which tops out in the low 90s. He can follow that up with a slow curve, a shuuto (which is sort of a "reverse slider" that, thrown by a right-hander, breaks down and in on right-handed batters), and a forkball. The same article goes on to say that Kenshin and new MLB import Koji Uehara (who I previewed here) taught Kenshin the forkball, and there's a friendly rivalry between the two men. Should be fun to watch them compete as we track their progress over the course oftheir first major league seasons.

Kenshin will make his first start at home in Turner Field on Friday, Apr. 10 against the Washington Nationals.

*By the by, do the Braves suddenly have the most international rotation in baseball? By my count their five-man rotation represents America (Lowe), Dutch Curacao (Jurrjens), Puerto Rico (Vazquez), Japan (Kenshin) and Mexico (Campillo). They've got Pool A of the World Baseball Classic covered...

**Which is not to say I don't mourn the loss of Braves-game coverage here in Chicago, I do. When TBS went off the air up here, I felt it keenly. Keenly, I tell you. Now I have to try and nap on Saturday afternoons with a white noise machine, when once all it took was Skip Caray saying "Welcome to Turner Field..."