The White Sox activated Munetaka Murakami from the 10-day injured list on July 10, and he was back in the lineup the same day for a home series against the Athletics. Gonzalez was optioned to clear the roster spot, the move that makes room for Murakami’s return at first base after six weeks away with a right hamstring strain.
Will Venable signaled the move a day earlier, saying Murakami would be activated and would return to the lineup to close the season’s first half. That timing matters because Chicago had just been swept by Boston and still held only a slim lead over the Guardians in the AL Central, with Minnesota two games back and the Tigers five games behind.
Murakami did not go quietly into that six-week break. At the end of May, he was trying to beat out an infield hit when he suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring, and he had been tied for second in the majors with 20 homers at the time. He was still in the top 15 in home runs even after the extended absence, a sign of how much damage he had done before the injury.
The White Sox needed that bat. Dating back to June 1, their first basemen had produced a.227/.312/.355 slash line, a stretch that left them in the bottom five in the league in OPS from the position. Miguel Vargas had not hit in 39 plate appearances as a first baseman, and Jacob Gonzalez, in his first 30 MLB games, had a.244/.323/.360 line with two home runs. Murakami’s own MLB line before the activation stood at.240/.378/.560 through 246 plate appearances, which is why his return was more than a paperwork move.
That leaves the real question where it belongs: whether Murakami can pick up where he left off after a hamstring injury that cost him six weeks. The White Sox do not have much margin in the AL Central, and their offense at first base has not given them much cover. If Murakami’s return looks anything like the hitter who was racing toward the top of the home run race before the strain, Chicago gets the middle-of-the-order power it has been missing just as the second half begins.
