White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Beginning rehab stint Monday
Rotowire
Murakami (hamstring) will report to Triple-A Charlotte on Monday to begin a minor-league rehab assignment, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.
Murakami suffered a Grade 2 right hamstring strain in late May and landed on the 10-day injured list. The star rookie will likely need a couple of games in the minors to get his timing back at the plate, but he appears on track to rejoin the big-league squad before the All-Star break. Jacob Gonzalez has been hitting well over the past few weeks as Chicago's primary first baseman, but he'll likely lose out on playing time when Murakami is activated.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Closing in on rehab assignment
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Murakami (hamstring) ran for the second consecutive day before the White Sox's game against the Guardians on Saturday, MLB.com reports.
Murakami ran the bases and gave a thumbs-up to reporters afterward, suggesting that he's feeling good after landing on the shelf May 30 due to a right hamstring strain. Assuming he recovers well from his running workouts over the weekend, he's expected to report to Triple-A Charlotte and could begin a rehab assignment Tuesday. The door is open for Murakami to potentially return from the 10-day injured list before the White Sox's final series before the All-Star break next weekend against the Athletics.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Viewed as day-to-day
Rotowire
Manager Will Venable said Monday that Murakami (hamstring) traveled with the team for its road trip and is considered day-to-day, but the White Sox haven't yet established a timeline for the first baseman to begin a rehab assignment, MLB.com reports.
Per Chuck Garfien of Chicago Sports Network, Venable said last Friday that Murakami was sprinting at about "85 percent," and the 26-year-old rookie has presumably increased the intensity of his running in the week since then. Assuming Murakami does in fact require a rehab assignment prior to being activated, he likely won't be available for the White Sox until at least next week. Jacob Gonzalez has been filling in as Chicago's primary first baseman since Murakami was placed on the 10-day injured list May 30 after straining his right hamstring.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Advancing in rehab program
Rotowire
White Sox manager Will Venable said Sunday that Murakami (hamstring) is increasing the intensity of his hitting and running at about 80 percent intensity, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
Murakami received a platelet-rich plasma injection for his Grade 2 right hamstring strain after landing on the shelf in late May, after which he was given an initial recovery timeline of 4-to-6 weeks. The 29-year-old may require a minor-league rehab assignment before coming off the injured list, but he appears to be tracking toward a return before the All-Star break.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Gets PRP injection for hamstring
Rotowire
White Sox manager Will Venable said Monday that Murakami (hamstring) stayed back in Chicago during the team's road trip and was given a platelet-rich plasma injection, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.
Murakami landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks of action with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain. The hope is that the PRP injection helps aid the healing process, but he will be sidelined several weeks regardless.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Slugs 18th homer in win
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-4 with a solo homer in Monday's 3-1 win over the Twins.
Murakami jumped a first-pitch 97 mph fastball from Zebby Matthews in the first innings and sent it over the wall in right field to snap a seven-game home run drought. It was Murakami's 18th homer of the year and his sixth this month after launching nine long balls in April. Murakami is slashing .235/.374/.540 with the 18 homers, 37 RBI, 37 runs scored and a 41:76 BB:K across 230 trips to the plate this season. The 26-year-old is in the 97th percentile or better in average exit velocity (93.9 mph), barrel rate (20.2 percent), hard-hit rate (57.8 percent) and walk rate (18.1 percent), while he's in just the third percentile in strikeout rate (33.2 percent).
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Crushes two homers Saturday
Rotowire
Murakami went 2-for-3 with a walk, two home runs, three RBI and an additional run scored during the White Sox's 8-3 win over the Cubs on Saturday.
The White Sox tagged Jameson Taillon for five home runs during Saturday's win, with Murakami going deep in the third and fifth innings. It was the first multi-HR game of Murakami's young major-league career and brought him up to 17 home runs on the season, which is second in the majors behind Kyle Schwarber (20). Murakami has a .943 OPS with 32 RBI and 32 runs scored across 194 plate appearances this season.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Receiving rare day of rest
Rotowire
Murakami is not in the lineup Tuesday versus the Angels.
Tuesday will mark Murakami's second day off this season, but he has appeared in every game for the White Sox. The rookie has continued his success into May with a 1.122 OPS and two home runs across the first four games of the month. The White Sox are shifting around the infield Tuesday, with Miguel Vargas at first base, Colson Montgomery at third base and Luisangel Acuna at shortstop.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Keeps pace in MLB homer race
Rotowire
Murakami went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, a double, a walk and three total runs scored in a 6-0 win over the Angels on Monday.
Murakami tied his season high with three hits, the loudest of which was a two-run blast off Jose Soriano in the fourth inning. That long ball put the Japanese slugger back into a tie for the MLB home run lead with Aaron Judge, who hit his 14th home run earlier in the evening. Remarkably, Murakami's sixth-inning double was his first non-homer extra-base hit of the season; in fact, 14 of his 30 total knocks have left the park. While he's tied for fifth in the league with 50 strikeouts, Murakami is also sixth with 28 walks and is up to a .961 OPS, which is the ninth-best mark in MLB.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Blasts 13th homer
Rotowire
Murakami went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and two walks in Friday's 8-2 win over the Padres.
Murakami regained the outright lead in homers in the majors with this blast, his 13th of the year. The 26-year-old has gone 6-for-31 (.194) with three long balls and seven RBI over his last eight games, though that stretch followed a five-game homer streak. He's batting .239 with a .967 OPS through 141 plate appearances this season.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Takes over MLB homer lead
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Murakami went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Monday's 8-7 victory versus the Angels.
Murakami turned the game on its head in the seventh inning, mashing a three-run blast to turn his team's one-run deficit into a two-run lead. The long ball was his 12th of the campaign, moving him into the lead among MLB hitters. Murakami is also striking out at a 32.5 percent clip, but as long as he keeps hitting the ball over the outfield wall, the White Sox likely won't mind stomaching the punchouts.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Homer streak at five games
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Murakami went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 11-7 loss to the Diamondbacks.
That's five straight games with a homer for Murakami. He's up to 10 homers this season, trailing only Yordan Alvarez (11) for the big-league lead. Murakami is hitting .256 with a 1.026 OPS, 19 RBI, 19 runs scored and no stolen bases over his first 24 major-league games. He's a three-true-outcomes hitter, as he's added a 21:32 BB:K across 104 plate appearances -- 63 of which have ended with a homer, strikeout or walk.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Homers yet again Tuesday
Rotowire
Murakami went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk in Tuesday's 11-5 victory versus the Diamondbacks.
Murakami belted a 426-foot solo shot in the second inning for the first of back-to-back-to-back homers for Chicago. The Japanese slugger has gone deep in four straight games to raise his season total to nine long balls, tied for second in the league. Murakami is also striking out at a 31.3 percent rate, but he's paired that with 21 walks -- tied for third in the league -- and appears to have a handle on major-league pitching in his first year in MLB.
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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.
