Munetaka Murakami didn’t arrive in Chicago with much mystery about his power. That part of his game was well documented long before he signed his two-year, $34 million deal in December 2025. What the White Sox are learning now, just a few games into his MLB career, is how quickly that power can translate, and how disruptive it can be when it does.
A Historic MLB Start With Immediate Impact
On Sunday in Milwaukee, Murakami launched a home run in the second inning of a 9-7 loss to the Brewers. It wasn’t just another early-season highlight. With that swing, he became only the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to homer in each of his first three career games. The list he joins is short and recent: Chase DeLauter, Kyle Lewis, and Trevor Story.
Murakami’s response stayed measured. Speaking through interpreter Kenzo Yagi, he acknowledged the record but redirected attention to improvement. He highlighted the need for adjustments and consistency, framing the milestone as a starting point rather than an end.
Power Was Never the Question
His early results track with what teams already knew. Murakami’s ability to drive the ball has been established for years. What complicated his free agency was not his ceiling, but the volatility in his approach. During his final season with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, he posted a 28.6 percent strikeout rate across 224 plate appearances, a figure that pushed beyond most teams’ comfort level.
That hesitation showed in the timeline. Despite his power profile, Murakami remained unsigned until December 2025, when the White Sox committed to a short-term deal with manageable risk.
The Adjustment That Will Decide Everything
Through his first 13 MLB plate appearances, Murakami has struck out at a 30.8 percent rate. The pattern has carried over, even as the power shows up immediately. Major league pitchers have leaned into that vulnerability, mixing speeds and locations in ways that force faster decisions.
Murakami has already identified the challenge. He described the difficulty in anticipating pitch selection and outlined his efforts to study tendencies, including working with teammates and analyzing PitchCom data to better understand sequencing.
That adjustment phase will determine how far this start can go. If he improves his pitch recognition, even marginally, the power becomes more consistent and harder to contain. If not, opposing pitchers will continue to press the same advantage.
For now, the White Sox are watching the upside unfold quickly. Three games have produced three home runs and a glimpse of what Murakami can offer when he connects. The question is no longer whether the power plays. It’s how often he can access it.
