White Sox Breakout Star Munetaka Murakami Makes More MLB History

Is it too on-the-nose to say the Chicago White Sox hit the Munetaka Murakami signing out of the park?

Too bad, it’s too true not to write it in the face of cliché.

The White Sox (17-21) have a losing record, but Murakami makes every Sox game must-watch television. The 26-year-old first baseman jacked his 15th home run of the season against the Seattle Mariners on Friday - tying New York Yankees three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge for the MLB lead.

According to MLB stats extraordinaire Sarah Langs, Murakami’s first-inning dinger marked the eighth series in a row in which he homered in the first game. He’s the first player in MLB history to accomplish that niche yet impressive feat.

Murakami has played only 38 games in Major League Baseball. The White Sox signed him to a two-year, $34 million deal as a Japanese free agent last December.

While Americans consider Murakami a breakout star, anyone who watched Murakami play in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball isn’t surprised. In 2022, while playing for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Murakami hit 56 home runs to set the record for the most homers in a single season by a Japanese-born player in NPB history. He was a two-time NPB MVP.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported Friday that Murakami’s strikeout total (977 strikeouts in 892 career NPB games) “scared off potential suitors” in MLB.

“It was a bad miss by everyone,” an anonymous American League official told Rogers. “In-zone miss scares people, and it was hard to project that versus improved pitching. It’s one of the blind spots of hitting projection models, so it winds up hurting the confidence for every team.”

Murakami struck out swinging twice in the White Sox’s 12-8 loss to the Mariners, which brings his season strikeout total to 57. For reference, Judge has struck out 49 times.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 8:00 PM.