ANAHEIM -- Even when Munetaka Murakami gets a rare non-start, as he did during a 4-3 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night, the White Sox first baseman makes a difference.
Murakami, whose 14 home runs are tied with Aaron Judge for the Major League lead and whose 28 RBIs trail Jonathan Aranda by one atop the American League, pinch-hit in the sixth with Derek Hill on first and singled to left. In the eighth inning, with the White Sox trailing by one run, Murakami struck out swinging against Ryan Zeferjahn to end the frame with the tying run on first.
But on the first pitch of that same at-bat, Murakami pulled a drive just foul down the right-field line, missing the foul pole and a White Sox lead by a few feet. It goes down as a near-miss but also another part of his growing legacy.
“Every ball he hits in the air, you think it’s got a shot,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Just foul there, but good at-bat by Mune.”
The off-day for Murakami was designed by Venable and his staff during this past weekend in San Diego to keep him fresh. He told Murakami of the planned break, with those rare absences basically coming once per month in Venable’s mind, but Murakami was still available, as seen through his late Tuesday work.
During an extended pregame interview Tuesday with MLB.com, Venable once again had nothing but praise for the standout free agent first baseman from Japan. That praise came on a couple of different levels.
“We are just really fortunate for [general manager Chris Getz] and the group to identify him as a target and for us to be able to get him, it’s just really special,” Venable said. “Clearly the things that he’s doing on the field are amazing and to have a guy in the middle of your lineup who can change the game with one swing.
“It seems like every swing he takes changes the game. But that’s secondary to me to the way he uplifts his teammates, connects with his teammates and gives them energy, and brings humor into the hitters’ meetings and just kind of impacting every part of our organization. It’s really special.”
That special nature was on display in early April, when the White Sox started 6-13 and had a number of players struggling to get going. Instead of the outside focus falling on those slumps, Murakami’s on-field excellence took the attention and let others settle into their game and their roles.
Venable returned to his playing days and brought up watching Adrián González when they were teammates with the Padres as a Murakami comparison in this instance.
“Adrián’s performance is going to overshadow everybody,” said Venable, who admitted the rest of the White Sox players around Murakami are better than the Padres around González. “It gave you the opportunity to just do your thing. It also legitimizes your team.
“You don’t put pressure on yourself because you know you have that guy, and maybe all you need to do is get on base for him. In a lot of ways he takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the group. Mune, he’s been in that spot. None of this is more than he can handle. That’s what comes with a great player like that and a great teammate.”
Even after Murakami’s long foul and ensuing three-pitch strikeout, the White Sox had a chance to win. Chase Meidroth cut the lead to one in the seventh with his first home run since the leadoff at-bat of the current campaign. They then loaded the bases against Zeferjahn in the ninth when Sam Antonacci was hit by a pitch, Miguel Vargas walked and Jarred Kelenic walked with two outs, but Edgar Quero grounded out to end the contest.
This setback left the White Sox at 17-19 and one-half game out of first in the American League Central, in a division featuring no team above .500 but all five teams within 1 1/2 games of the top spot. With Murakami in place leading the talented young core and this overriding energy from the group on a daily basis, the White Sox might have as good of a chance to win the AL Central as any of those five.
“It’s a family in here. We play for each other every day,” Meidroth said. “It’s about what’s on the front of the jersey. We know what that means to everyone in here. Any way to find a win is what we’re going to do every day. We’re going to come back tomorrow and try to win a series.”