CHICAGO -- Munetaka Murakami made no attempt to mask how he was feeling Saturday morning after the White Sox placed their first baseman on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain.
“It hurts,” said Murakami, through interpreter Kenzo Yagi, when asked how the malady felt compared to Friday night. “It hurts.”
White Sox fans feel Murakami’s pain. In fact, most of that ardent and rejuvenated support group would trade their right hamstring to keep their power-packed first baseman on the field. Simply put, he has changed the franchise over the first four months of his two-year, $34 million free agent deal.
Instead, Murakami is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks, according to manager Will Venable.
“Yeah, it's tough. Obviously, he makes a massive impact on our group, on and off the field,” Venable said. “He's someone that puts so much energy into his work and to other people. He's probably pretty down right now, knowing that that's going to take a different form here over the next few weeks.
“Just trying to support him, and it's tough. But this is what every single team deals with, and you've got to find ways to continue to put plays together, play well and play good baseball.”
Since a 6-13 start to the 2026 season, the White Sox have been playing great baseball with a 24-14 mark entering Saturday. They are 11-2 in their last 13 games played at Rate Field, 11-6 in one-run games (after finishing 47-95 in that same category from 2023-25) and 9-3 in the American League Central.
Entering Saturday, Murakami was tied with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez for the AL lead at 20 home runs. Murakami led the AL with 43 runs scored, ranked second with 41 RBIs and sat third with a .938 OPS. The left-handed slugger also presents the White Sox with their first superstar since Tim Anderson was in his prime.
There also has been an extra level of intensity instilled through Murakami’s work ethic and presence. He concludes almost every postgame interview on the CHSN broadcasts with a message of “keep going.”
“As a professional baseball player, it’s a must to really commit to a win,” Murakami said. “That’s what we do every single day. I never really thought about us being a losing team. It’s always having that winning culture, and going into games with that kind of mindset. We are here to win.”
This injury took place in the third inning of Friday’s exciting 4-3, walk-off victory in 10 innings over the Tigers -- punctuated by Miguel Vargas’ game-winning homer -- with Murakami beating out a fielder’s choice grounder to second. He grabbed his right hamstring and winced as he walked toward the base, leaving the game following an on-field visit from Venable and head athletic trainer James Kruk.
Jacob Gonzalez takes Murakami’s roster spot, having his contract selected from Triple-A Charlotte on his 24th birthday. Gonzalez -- who is Chicago's No. 23 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- was slashing .317/.419/.668 with 11 doubles, one triple, 19 home runs, 62 RBIs, 33 walks, 42 runs scored and a 1.087 OPS over 52 games with Charlotte before his callup. He led the Minor Leagues in RBIs and total bases (133), was tied for the lead in home runs and ranked second in slugging percentage and extra-base hits (31) and fifth in OPS.
COMPLETE WHITE SOX PROSPECT COVERAGE
Ken Patterson is the only other White Sox player to make his big league debut on his birthday, coming back on July 8, 1988. Gonzalez’s arrival Saturday was delayed by flight issues, but the left-handed hitter figures to play a good amount of first base, especially against right-handed pitching.
Meanwhile, Murakami joins catcher Kyle Teel, right-handers Mike Vasil, Jordan Hicks and Jordan Leasure, left-hander Noah Schultz, outfielder Everson Pereira and infielder/outfielder Tanner Murray on the injury-based support system. They will be traveling on the road, doing various levels of rehab work back to the Majors, but also reinforcing the theme of team above all else with the White Sox.
“It’s really disappointing at this point of the season to be injured,” Murakami said. “But there are a lot of ways to contribute to the team, like cheering on and other stuff. I’ll keep doing that so that we can keep grinding as a team.”