Munetaka Murakami hit his 20th home run of the season Wednesday, and the Chicago White Sox used the blast to roll past the Minnesota Twins 15-2. The homer came in Murakami’s 55th career MLB game, a pace matched by only Cody Bellinger and Wally Berger in league history.
That is why Murakami is drawing so much attention now. The 26-year-old, who signed a two-year, $34 million deal with Chicago this offseason, has become the kind of middle-of-the-order force the White Sox needed after three straight seasons of more than 100 losses. He is tied with Yordan Alvarez for the major league lead in home runs, tied for second with 40 RBI, and is hitting.240/.375/.561 with an AL-best 42 runs scored.
Murakami was already one of the biggest names to come out of Nippon Professional Baseball. He was a back-to-back MVP in 2021 and 2022, won the 2022 Triple Crown with a.318 batting average, 56 home runs and 134 RBI, and broke Sadaharu Oh’s single-season NPB record for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player. Chicago bet on that track record when it brought him over, and the early return has been immediate.
The White Sox are 28-27, in second place in the American League Central behind the Twins and holding one of the three AL wild-card spots. That sits against the backdrop of a club that had spent the last three years buried by losses, which makes the sight of Murakami driving a contender feel stranger than it once would have. Chicago also has a promising young offensive core around him, including Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth.
The question now is whether Murakami can keep this pace once pitchers adjust and the season lengthens. For the White Sox, that answer may decide whether Wednesday was just another big win or the night their surprise start began to look real.
