Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami came over to MLB this offseason with muted expectations. Murakami displayed prodigious power and plate discipline in Nippon Professional Baseball, but worries about his contact skills severely depressed his contract, leading to him signing with the White Sox … as opposed to a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But through 35 games, it looks as though 29 MLB teams made a huge mistake. Murakami clearly made some adjustments, and — entering Tuesday — is tied for the MLB lead with 14 home runs and tied for the American League lead with 28 RBI.
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Those 14 home runs are even more notable than they appear. Entering Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, every single one of Murakami’s extra-base hits were home runs.
He added to that streak in the fourth inning, smacking a high fastball from Angels starter Jose Soriano out to deep center for another home run.
That hit gave Murakami 14 extra-base hits on the season, all of which were home runs. That’s the longest streak to start a player’s career since at least 1900, per MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
That streak, however, ended in the sixth inning, as Murakami doubled off reliever Mitch Farris. It was the first extra-base hit of Murakami’s career that wasn’t a home run.
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Just to highlight the absurdity of his numbers, here’s how Murakami’s hit distribution looks over his first 35 MLB games.
• Total hits: 30
• Singles: 15
• Doubles: 1
• Home runs: 14
To go along with those numbers, Murakami has walked 28 times. His excellent plate discipline has given the rookie a .240/.377/.584 slash line so far, making him a younger version of Kyle Schwarber.
That was thought to be the best case scenario for Murakami when he hit the free-agent market. Despite the excellent power and batting eye he displayed in Japan, there were significant concerns about Murakami’s ability to make enough contact — and hit hard fastballs — once he came over to MLB. Those concerns very likely led to Murakami signing a much smaller contract — two years and $34 million — than expected.
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While Murakami’s contact rate and strikeout rate are high, hitting high velocity hasn’t been an issue. With his home run off Soriano on Monday, Murakami became the only player in MLB this season to homer off multiple pitches over 98.1 mph, per Sarah Langs. Overall, he’s hitting .270 with a .714 slugging percentage against fastballs.
Thanks to Murakami’s contributions, the White Sox are performing much better than expected to open the season. Following Monday’s 6-0 win, the White Sox are 17-18 on the season, and sit just a half game back of the AL Central division lead.
Whether the White Sox can keep up that momentum likely depends on how well Murakami can adjust once pitchers have a better scouting report on him. While a slump might be inevitable given the nature of baseball, Murakami has already shown the ability to make big adjustments, offering some hope that his hot start is an accurate representation of the player he’ll be moving forward.
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