Red Sox Interested In Another Japanese Import
Posted by Mike on October 29, 2008
Per Baseball Prospectus:
The Red Sox are also eyeing right-hander Kenshin Kawakami, a free agent from the Chunichi Dragons in Japan who is often compared to Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.
Kenshin Kawakami scouting report:
Kawakami isn’t overpowering; his fastball tops out in the low 90’s. His control is good, though not quite as awe-inspiring as Koji Uehara’s. And his windup isn’t deceptive, like many Japanese pitchers. Kawakami gets by purely on quality stuff.
Kawakami’s featured pitch is a cut fastball, which, according to Wikipedia, is known as Japan’s finest among visiting MLB All-Stars. He also has a slow curve, which he throws at 65-70 MPH. The rest of his arsenal is fairly typical: fastball, shuuto, fork. He changes speeds pretty well, particularly between his curve and harder stuff.
I’ve selected some YouTube footage from Kawakami’s most recent appearance, Chunichi’s 2-1 loss to Hanshin on July 18. Kawakami took a no-decision, striking out 10 and allowing one earned run over 8.0 innings. 2nd inning, 3rd/4th inning, 8th inning, and just for fun, Kyuji Fujikawa’s appearance in the 9th (pt1/pt2).
