Murakami heats up
- Munetaka Murakami homered for the fifth straight game, reaching 10 homers this season. - He became the fastest Japanese player to reach 10 home runs, surpassing Shohei Ohtani's pace. - The streak ties a rookie mark and is turning early attention toward Murakami's power profile this season (x.com).
Munetaka Murakami homered in his fifth straight game Wednesday night, giving the Chicago White Sox rookie 10 home runs in 24 games and a share of the Major League Baseball rookie record for consecutive games with a homer. (espn.com) Murakami’s seventh-inning shot traveled 451 feet to right-center at Chase Field in Phoenix during an 11-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 22. Major League Baseball said he became the 13th rookie to homer in five straight games. (mlb.com) The homer also pushed Murakami past Shohei Ohtani for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player through his first 23 games, and then to 10 through 24 games with Wednesday’s blast. Yahoo Sports, citing MLB research, said Ohtani had six through 23 games as a hitter. (sports.yahoo.com) Murakami arrived in Chicago with a power résumé that was already unusual in Japan. In 2022, he hit 56 home runs for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, breaking Sadaharu Oh’s single-season record for a Japanese-born player in Nippon Professional Baseball. (mlb.com) That same 2022 season, Murakami won Japan’s Triple Crown at age 22 by leading his league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. Japanese outlets and the World Baseball Softball Confederation said he was the youngest player to do that in Nippon Professional Baseball history. (wbsc.org) The White Sox signed Murakami to a two-year, $34 million contract in December 2025, making him one of the club’s biggest offseason additions. MLB.com reported the deal after Chicago announced it on December 21. (mlb.com) His early production has come during a rough White Sox start in the standings, which has made his bat the center of the club’s offense in April. USA Today reported that Murakami had homered in five straight games while Chicago lost the series finale in Arizona. (usatoday.com) For now, the next marker is simple: one more game with a homer would give Murakami the rookie record to himself. After five straight, even White Sox manager Will Venable told ESPN, “I’ve run out of things to say.” (espn.com)
