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The Braves were confident about his health after the 5-foot-10 right-hander passed a physical on Monday, and they spoke with numerous Japanese people in the community to make sure he would feel comfortable in his new home.
“One of the things we found at dinner last night was Kenshin speaks a little more English than we originally thought,” Wren said.
Though many Atlanta fans were outraged over the loss of Smoltz, Wren and his staff moved quickly to shore up the beleaguered rotation.
The deals brightened what had been a disappointing offseason. The Braves failed to work out a trade for San Diego ace Jake Peavy and was rebuffed by free agents A.J. Burnett and Rafael Furcal. Injury plagued left-hander Mike Hampton also turned down a chance to return to the team, signing instead with Houston.
Then came the biggest blow of all: the loss of Smoltz, who had spent his entire big league career with the Braves but was coming off major shoulder surgery.
“There’s a lot of teams involved, especially when it comes to the free agents,” Cox said. “There’s always six or seven teams going to be disappointed when they don’t land the guy. That’s what happened up with Burnett and Furcal.”
With Kawakami and Lowe, the Braves have the makings of a solid rotation. They previously acquired Javier Vazquez to join holdover Jair Jurrjens, the team’s top starter last season as a rookie with a 13-10 record and 3.68 ERA. Another rookie, Jorge Campillo, was 8-7 with a 3.91 ERA.
Vazquez was acquired from the Chicago White Sox for a package of minor leaguers after going 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA.
Kawakami is not overpowering, but he has good control, an effective cutter and a slow, sweeping curve that reminds the Braves of Roy Oswalt’s signature pitch.
“It’s not like my fastball is going to blow anybody away,” he said, according to his translator. “It’s makes it that much more important how I use my slow curve. It’s a pitch I need courage to throw because if I make a mistake, they’re going to take it out.”
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