Munetaka Murakami had a lot of doubters.
Coming over from Japan as a free agent in the offseason, many were concerned about his ability to make contact. The Chicago White Sox got him for a relative discount because of that.
Murakami’s raw power was never in question. The question was whether he’d put together good enough at bats to access that pop in MLB games.
In the early going with Chicago, the returns were quite positive. Murakami was absolutely crushing the baseball.
In an era of swing-and-miss, he certainly fit right in, but it wasn’t holding him back.
Lately, though, it’s definitely holding him back, and with the White Sox chasing an AL Central Division title, it’s a bit worrisome that Murakami seems to be stuck in such a rut.
Bad Munetaka Murakami Outlook
The baseball statistician known as @JayHayKid on X shared this set of facts on Saturday:
“Munetaka Murakami hasn’t homered since August 18. He doesn’t have a hit against a pitch thrown out of the zone since July 17. He has the highest strikeout rate in baseball and his whiff rate is nearly unprecedented.”
He concludes his post by asking a simple question: “Were the haters right?”
The White Sox sure hope they weren’t, but there’s definitely reason to worry.
Not homering in more than two weeks is a problem by itself.
Not making quality contact with out-of-zone pitches wouldn’t be a massive deal by itself, but it does matter now because it gives pitchers an easy approach against Murakami.
And there is a level when the whiffing becomes too much to deal with.
Baseball is a game of adjustments, and it sure seems like right now Murakami has to start making some adjustments of his own, or pitchers may keep just dicing him up.
Munetaka Murakami Stats
Through play on Sept. 4, Murakami has 29 home runs this season. He’s batting .211 with an .828 OPS.
That OPS is still solid, but it has definitely been dropping in recent weeks.
Murakami has played 106 games and walked 81 times, which is great. He has also struck out 158 times, which is not.
He is in the first percentile in baseball in whiff percentage, according to Baseball Savant, which means he basically whiffs more than anyone else in MLB.
His whiff rate? It’s 42.4%. On more than two-fifths of his swings, Murakami doesn’t make contact. That’s astonishing.
When Murakami makes contact, it’s fantastic. His exit velocity is in the 98th percentile. His hard-hit percentage is 99th percentile. His barrel rate is 100th percentile.
This guy packs some serious pop in his bat, when he hits the ball.
It’ll be up to Murakami and the White Sox to figure out how to get him to hit the ball just a bit more often so that he can maximize his raw talent.
White Sox Have Munetaka Murakami Problem