MILWAUKEE – The saga of Munetaka Murakami has gone far beyond bidets being installed at Rate Field per his recommendation, as many people expected who know his game.
In just three games played during the opening weekend of the 2026 season against the Brewers at American Family Field, all three of which were losses for the White Sox including a tough 9-7 setback on Sunday, Murakami has shown himself as a force to be reckoned with via a solo home run in each contest.
“It's what I expected, watching him for two years in Japan. I'm not surprised by it,” said White Sox starter Anthony Kay, who earned a no-decision in his return to Major League Baseball from Japan. “I know some people are, but I've seen it. I'm not surprised.”
“I credit him, too,” said shortstop Colson Montgomery, who hit his second career grand slam and drove in five Sunday. “Coming in here, a lot of expectations, hitting homers and things like that. First couple of games, he’s taking his walks, and he was just kind of letting them come back in the zone. That’s one I can look at too to help my game.”
Murakami connected during Game 3 in the second inning off rookie Brandon Sproat. The left-handed slugging first baseman became one of four players to homer in at least each of their first three regular season games, joining Trevor Story who homered in four consecutive to start his career in 2016, Kyle Lewis in 2019 and Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter currently.
“I’m truly grateful and happy that I was able to keep that kind of record, but like I said before, there’s still a long way to go and a lot of ways to improve,” said Murakami through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “So, that is what I’ll keep on doing in the upcoming days.”
Many White Sox fans made the 90-minute journey to Milwaukee and cheered Murakami’s latest long distance connection. Murakami also walked for the fourth time in three games, showing his exceptional plate discipline.
Accolades don’t really seem to matter to Murakami, as the 26-year-old talked as much postgame about improvements he needs to make as his successes. He understands the game within the game against opposing teams and specifically opposing pitchers.
“Definitely opposing pitchers are mixing it up, and it’s really hard to really find out what they’re going to throw,” Murakami said. “I study and analyze these situations as much as possible, utilizing even our pitchers as well through the PitchCom, depending on the situation.
“I’ll listen to it and see what kind of pitches our pitchers make so that we can kind of translate that into my game when I’m facing opponents. Each and every at-bat is learning, and each and every situation is learning for me so that I can keep growing on that experience.”
Milwaukee hurlers Jake Woodford, Sproat and Chad Patrick can attest Murakami’s learning curve is not as steep as he might think. Murakami is the biggest addition for general manager Chris Getz in this latest rebuild, and is already paying major dividends.
“Mune looked good,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Good at-bats, obviously another homer, which is great.”
“It all translates from his work, his preparation, things like that,” Montgomery said. “That’s one thing I respect a lot. He comes in day in and day out and he’s doing his stuff. He never skips anything. He’s always working on his craft. To me, it just makes sense of why he’s going out there and performing really well.”