Japanese Slugger Murakami to Bring Big Bat, Questionable Defense to MLB

Home runs can be game-changing moments, and a potential momentum-swinging slugger is set to make the jump from Japan to the big leagues.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows big bopper Munetaka Murakami, 25, has entered the posting system—the means by which Nippon Professional Baseball players move to Major League Baseball—and the race is on for a relatively young bat with potential to be a difference-maker.

Murakami slammed 56 longballs in 2022, surpassing Sadaharu Oh’s single-season mark for a Japan-born player. He has amassed 246 homers over eight seasons in NPB’s Central League.

Murakami was an important member of the 2023 World Baseball Classic-champion Samurai Japan team that included Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki, all now with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Murakami, though, has experienced his share of ups and downs after joining the Swallows straight out of high school and putting up 36 homers as a 19-year-old in his first full season on the club’s top team.

He brings the kind of pop that can make a spacious stadium look like a backyard and doesn’t even have to square up balls to muscle them over the fence. But in the three seasons since breaking Oh’s long-standing record, Murakami has had home-run totals of 31, 33, and 22. And that’s playing most of his games at a smaller homer-friendly park in Tokyo.

Injuries have slowed the baby-faced slugger, but so have opponents. And the lack of consistent protection in a struggling Yakult lineup hasn’t made things easy for him.

“Fans should be excited about his power. He has big league power, and when he’s going, it’s really exciting to watch,” longtime Tokyo-based sportswriter Jason Coskrey told The Epoch Times via email.

“From 2020 to 2022, he was hitting home runs, hitting for decent average and had his strikeouts down and his walks up. Then he hit home runs Nos. 54 and 55, and it seems like he fell off a cliff after trying to get past Oh for the record. His power came back, but he started striking out like crazy and walking less.”

And that could be the biggest concern as he moves to the major leagues. The lefty hitter has 977 strikeouts in 892 career games.

“He has plenty of room to improve, and perhaps a different coaching staff and approach can coax that last little bit out him that the Swallows could not,” said Coskrey, who writes for The Japan Times.

“[Velocity] is potentially a big problem for him, especially if you consider that his strikeouts may go up in MLB. He didn’t play well against velocity either the last couple of seasons, and he’ll see more of that as well.

“The MLB strike zone may help him to an extent as opposed to the zone in Japan, which is more pitcher-friendly. He’s not walking as much, either. When he connects, he’s going to do damage, but his swing and miss is concerning, even with all of his upside.”

Another factor that might impact his on-base percentage is the fastball counts in the big leagues. That’s a major change from Japan, where pitchers tend to throw any of their pitches no matter the count.

But it’s MLB teams that are now counting. They have a 45-day window, which started on Saturday, to iron out a deal with Murakami before the posting period ends. If there is no deal in place, Murakami will remain with the Swallows.

The Dodgers are, of course, on the list of teams that might be interested, but Murakami’s obvious weakness is with the glove and that makes L.A. an unlikely place as long as Freddie Freeman—the 2020 MVP and 2018 Gold Glove winner—is there.

Murakami, who also isn’t fleet of foot, regularly played third base and spent some time at first, but his best defensive position might be next to the water cooler on the bench.

“He’s not good, but he’s way better at first than third,” Coskrey said about Murakami’s defense. “He should really DH. From what I’ve seen, though, it’ll be a desperate team that asks him to play third. There don’t seem to be many illusions about his glove.”

Teams have until 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 22 to make a deal happen, and potential homes for Murakami are all over the map.

“The Mets may need to replace Pete Alonso, so that’s potentially a good landing spot,” Coskrey said.

“San Diego is another good spot—Yuki Matsui is there as an understanding shoulder to lean on, and Yu Darvish is probably going to be readily available in that regard as well. Although, that comes with the pressure of being in the shadow of the three guys in L.A.

“Cleveland and Miami aren’t as sexy, but they need some pop.”