Chicago White Sox third baseman Munetaka Murakami is making waves in his first MLB season. He’s caught the attention of Arizona Diamondbacks supervisor Torey Lovullo, because the D-backs put together to tackle the White Sox for three games at Chase Field this week.
The 26-year-old Murakami spent eight spectacular seasons taking part in for NPB’s Yakult Swallows earlier than making the leap to the majors this offseason. So far, he is had fairly the profitable early stretch, hitting simply .208, however with a .918 OPS and eight homers.
Lovullo, who spent a 12 months with the Swallows on the tail finish of his taking part in profession, had this to say in regards to the Japanese star’s early MLB success:
“Me personally, from me to him, I’ve been watching him closely,” Lovullo mentioned. “I’ve been a fan of his, because I’ve played in Yakult, and I just want to say congratulations to him for coming here and being very successful thus far.
“I’ve nice recollections of taking part in for the Yakult Swallows, and I believed that there can be a pure migration for him to return right here due to my connection to the Swallows,” Lovullo said — in obvious jest.
“He ended up going elsewhere, and it is figuring out rather well for him.”
Lovullo, like most of the MLB world this offseason, knew there was plenty of talent present with the 26-year-old slugger.
“He was on lots of people’s radar display. … We knew there was a particular participant there,” the manager said. “Today might be a enjoyable little journey for me to look at his sport from the opposite aspect of the sphere.”
Murakami has a high-powered swing, but also plenty of swing-and-miss. That style of play has drawn some early comparisons to Phillies star DH Kyle Schwarber.
With his .208 average and respective .542 slugging percentage, Murakami has an ISO (Isolated Power, calculated by subtracting a player’s batting average from their slug) of .333 — a truly massive number. Schwarber’s ISO is .313 thus far in 2026, with a career average of .270.
“I can see [the comparison],” Lovullo said. “[Murakami]’s acquired an excellent strategy. He’s acquired an all-field strategy. Schwarber’s fairly good, so if he can get there, he’ll be a fairly particular participant.”
The Diamondbacks will face Murakami for the first time, although right-hander Merrill Kelly — who is Tuesday night’s starter — is certainly familiar with the former Yakult slugger. Murakami hit a towering home run off Kelly in the 2023 World Baseball Classic at 23 years old.
The Diamondbacks will certainly have to be careful when pitching to the rising Japanese star. His talent is not lost on Lovullo.
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