White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Homers in third straight contest
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 7-4 win over Athletics.
Murakami extended his club's lead with a towering two-run blast in a lefty-lefty matchup against Jeffrey Springs in the fifth inning. It marked the first-year slugger's third homer in as many days and eighth of the season. His .208 batting average and 33.3 percent strikeout rate leave something to be desired, but Murakami's power, combined with a 21.5 percent walk rate, has helped produce a .918 OPS through 22 games.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Swats seventh homer, walks thrice
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and three walks in Saturday's 7-6 extra-innings loss to the Athletics.
Murakami entered play Saturday with a putrid .063 average and 4:10 BB:K across 21 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. Facing lefty Hogan Harris in the top of the seventh inning, Murakami took him deep to center field. Both of his hits against left-handers this season are home runs, and overall the Japanese slugger is slashing .209/.386/.522 with seven homers, 14 RBI, 15 runs scored and a 20:29 BB:K across his first 88 major-league plate appearances. Murakami still needs to cut down on his 33 percent strikeout rate, but a 23 percent walk rate and his power have made up for the swing-and-miss thus far.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Strikes out twice Saturday
Rotowire
Murakami went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts during the White Sox's 2-0 loss to the Royals on Saturday.
Murakami opened his first MLB season strongly with three home runs in three consecutive games and was up to four homers and seven RBI through eight contests. However, he has cooled off at the plate of late, going 1-for-20 with six walks, three runs scored and nine strikeouts in his past seven games. These types of growing pains are to be expected for Murakami, but he'll have plenty of runway to work on his game after signing a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox in December.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Stays hot with another homer
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored during the White Sox's 9-7 loss to the Brewers on Sunday.
Murakami continued his excellent start to his MLB career Sunday with a solo home run off Brandon Sproat in the second inning. All three of Murakami's hits through three games have resulted in solo homers, and he's also shown discipline at the plate with four walks across 13 plate appearances. The 26-year-old has clearly brought his power over from Japan, where he recorded 246 home runs over an eight-season span in Nippon Professional Baseball.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Homers again
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk Saturday against the Brewers.
Murakami has kicked off his MLB career in style, homering in both of his first two starts. He led off the fourth inning with a home run Saturday, which came after he worked a walk in his initial plate appearance. While it's a small sample, Murakami has struck out only once in eight plate appearances.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Homers in MLB debut
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in Thursday's 14-2 loss against the Brewers.
Murakami made a great impression in his big-league debut, reaching base three times and launching a 384-foot solo shot to lead off the ninth inning for his first career MLB home run. The 26-year-old also showed strong plate discipline, drawing two walks in the contest and looking comfortable at the plate on a day when Brewers pitchers recorded 20 strikeouts. The homer, which he pulled into the right-field corner, offered an early glimpse of the power that Murakami showcased in Japan, where he hit 246 home runs across eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Two hits through three WBC games
Rotowire
Murakami (fatigue) has gone 2-for-10 with two walks, three runs, one RBI and one stolen base in three games for Team Japan during the World Baseball Classic.
Murakami was scratched from the White Sox's Cactus League lineup Feb. 26 due to a bout of fatigue, but as expected, he's been fully cleared to play in WBC games with Japan. The 26-year-old infielder will remain with Japan for the duration of its WBC run before rejoining the White Sox for the final week of spring training.
