Kenshin Kawakami???

by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 24, 2008 1:18 PM EST

3 Questions:

1. Are they just blowing smoke out of there ass, or are they actually making a real effort to sign this guy?

2. I understand he won the Sawamura Award (Japan's equivalent of the Cy Young Award) but is this guy actually supposed to help us.

3. What makes this guy special, and what pitches does he throw?

I will say he looks really good here.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU1wMH6lXHQ

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Talking Chop.

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by bravesfan91 on Dec 24, 2008 2:04 PM EST reply actions

Shit.... I really need to start previewing my posts......

http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/07/player-profile-kenshin-kawakami/#content

by bravesfan91 on Dec 24, 2008 2:04 PM EST up reply actions

Can't Help You, But...

Thanks for putting up a FanPost that isn’t claiming that the sky is falling, offering up absurd “solutions” to our problems or comprised mostly of the word “filler”.

On point, though, the Braves are trying to sign Japanese players now, but they’re limited by the fact that Atlanta does not have a prominent Asian community and other teams have made inroads by acquiring their players already.

Here we go again: http://thefulldeck.blogspot.com/

by ejruiz on Dec 24, 2008 2:21 PM EST reply actions

omfg i didn’t say the sky was falling I simply said they should make an effort to go get Jake Peavy because San Diego is going to have a hell of a time coming up with money to pay him

by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 24, 2008 5:33 PM EST up reply actions

It’s not hard to figure out he was being serious. The recent fanposts have been over run with “woe is us” comments. It was nice to actually discuss a serious topic without someone trashing the Braves for shit they cannot control.

by scstrato on Dec 24, 2008 5:51 PM EST up reply actions

Really?

Don’t forget your first comment in your own post, “if our ace is vasquez were screwed”, followed by “escobar aint that grt he swings at everything and makes a ton of errors” and capped off with such gems as “schafer is out 50 games for hgh if he is our future were in trouble” and “if ur thinkin charlie (career era of 6) mortan is our best upcoming starter then we got huge problems there buddy”. Aside from being blatently uninformed regarding just about everything, the overwhelmingly pessimistic approach taken in such post as your early effort are overwhelmingly annoying.

Like I said above, thank you for posting this, a serious post seeking knowledge with no rose-colored glasses or gloom-and-doom slant to it. Perhaps you should have just quit while you were ahead…

Here we go again: http://thefulldeck.blogspot.com/

by ejruiz on Dec 25, 2008 1:41 PM EST up reply actions

the overwhelmingly pessimistic approach taken in such post as your early effort are overwhelmingly annoying

Truer words have never been spoken.

by mvandonsel on Dec 25, 2008 9:54 PM EST up reply actions

Will help

I think this guy could help. My hunch is from what I have read he will be a solid major league #3 or 4…maybe a #2..but a number one type pitcher. I think you could see him put up similar numbers to his fellow countryman Kuroda of the Dodgers. However, watching the YouTube video..someone needs to tell Kenshin that he can’t elevate his fast ball like that against good MLB hitting. He tries to throw that fastball up high against a good hitter and it will end up in the seats. I realize that he gets away with that because his curve ball comes in so high and goes 12 to 6…but I think MLB hitters with the aid of video will figure that out. Fortunately for him it looks like everything tales away or in. Nothing is too straight.

To be honest I am not as concerned with the lack of a true “ace” if we have depth and a healthy Smoltz. You put SMoltz in the one, Vazqquez in the #2, JJ in # 3, and Kenshin in the four you have a solid starting 4. Put Glavine in the number 5 and figure that Campillo will get 15-20 starts because of Glavine and SMoltz’s health. My bigger concern is the offense..or lack there of.

I would also like to see a triple A rotation of Hanson, Reyes, and Morton. See if these guys can taste success as a collective group and establish an identitiy.

by calbers on Dec 24, 2008 2:35 PM EST reply actions

They won’t resign Smoltz though, right?

by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 24, 2008 2:52 PM EST up reply actions

He can’t pitch anymore because he doesn’t have that accuracy anymore and yes that kind of is because of his age but i’m not saying old guys can’t play.

Another thing though if Glavine is like a rotated 5 starter or something I guess that would be cool. He would probably be more of a pitching coach to help the young guys come around more then anything else.

by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 24, 2008 7:18 PM EST reply actions

Glavine

If he is our #5 …great. If he is our number 3 we are in trouble. I think in the 5 slot with the extra rest he could be effective-Especially if you have a couple long guys like Bennett, Carlyle, and Campillo who can come get him in the 5th or 6th when he gets gassed early.

I would just like to see Hanson, Reyes, and Morton start out in AAA. I think that as hot as Hanson has been he could end up leading that staff and bringing Reyes and Morton up with a few notches with him. However, Morton and/or Reyes should not be on the big league roster unless they are starting. They need the work and shouldn’t be in a swing role right now. Now if someone gets hurt and they need to come up…fine. But to be honest with both Campillo and Bennet in the bullpen they should be able to get through one or two short term injuries without having to have them drive down from Gwinnett.

by calbers on Dec 25, 2008 12:16 AM EST reply actions

i thought it was interesting someone brought up the old school way of breakign pitchers in a while back, let me find thier way in the bullpen then graduate to starting… I obviously have no evidence to say that works or doesnt. But its an interesting idea. I think having JoJo, esp, do some long relief in games could help him find his way. But again this is all conjecture… i also like the idea of getting them starts, but both have proven they can beat AAA hitting, so i dont see the point of sending them down.

"We win today, that's two in a row... if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before..."

by Swo12bv on Dec 25, 2008 1:07 AM EST up reply actions