White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Launches homer Tuesday
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Murakami went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Cubs.
Murakami has three homers over his last five games, going 4-for-18 with a 6:8 BB:K in that span. His long ball Tuesday was his 29th of the season. The rookie infielder is also batting .234 with a .917 OPS, 58 RBI, 67 runs scored, 13 doubles and a stolen base over 90 contests. His power has been as advertised in his first big-league season.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Homers again Sunday
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Murakami went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 7-5 win over the Tigers.
Murakami broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh inning by taking Tyler Holton deep for a two-run homer, giving Chicago a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The slugger has now launched eight home runs over his last 20 games, driving in 15 runs during that stretch, and is up to 28 long balls on the season. Murakami owns a .235 average with an impressive .911 OPS across 88 games this season, though his massive power continues to come with swing-and-miss concerns, highlighted by a 33.4 percent strikeout rate.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Belts two-run homer Friday
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Murakami went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored during Friday's 6-1 win over Tampa Bay.
Murakami extended the White Sox's lead to 4-1 in the third inning with a two-run homer off Nick Martinez, and the slugger came around to score in the sixth on a deep ball from Colson Montgomery. The long ball was the 24th of the season for Murakami and extended his on-base streak to 17 games, during which he has gone 16-for-62 with four home runs, 10 RBI, five doubles and 16 runs scored.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Pops pair of homers
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Murakami went 3-for-5 with two home runs, six RBI and three runs scored Sunday against the Astros.
Murakami was hitting only .184 with a 35.4 percent strikeout rate across his first 11 games since returning from the injured list, but he snapped out of that skid in impressive fashion Sunday. He popped a two-run and solo homer, and he also chipped in a two-RBI single. Murakami now has a modest three-game hitting streak with only two strikeouts in that span, so he looks to be regaining a rhythm at the plate.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: On track to return Friday
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The White Sox are expected to activate Murakami (hamstring) from the 10-day injured list ahead of Friday's game against the Athletics, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
On the shelf since May 30 due to a Grade 2 right hamstring strain, Murakami appears poised to resume his outstanding rookie campaign this weekend after checking out well following two rehab games at Triple-A Charlotte. He's gone 2-for-7 with a double and a walk between the two contests and was able to play a full nine innings at first base Wednesday. Murakami's upcoming return from the IL is expected to most negatively affect fellow rookie Jacob Gonzalez, who had posted a .699 OPS in 29 games with the White Sox after stepping in for Murakami as the team's primary first baseman.
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White Sox's Munetaka Murakami: Beginning rehab stint Monday
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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: Advancing in rehab program
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
