CLEVELAND – Perhaps 324 losses in three seasons look a little different on the other side of the International Date Line.
When Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami began drawing interest from the Chicago White Sox last winter in free agency, he saw opportunity and hope. From his vantage point, he saw the franchise differently than people in the United States did.
On this side of the world, the White Sox were perceived as one of the worst franchises in Major League Baseball. They lost at least 101 games in three straight seasons from 2024-26, including a 41-121 mark in 2025 that set a new record for losses since 1900.
Faced with a surprisingly slow market, Murakami signed a two-year, $34-million contract to come to the South Side on Dec. 21. The signing surprised many in the industry for two reasons. First, many analysts expected Murakami to receive a contract worth more than $100 million. Secondly, the White Sox did not seem ready to contend in 2026.
Munetaka Murakami believed in the White Sox before anyone else
Murakami sat at the podium in the Progressive Field press conference room on Saturday afternoon when I asked him why he signed with the White Sox. The first baseman smiled.
“This is the reason why,” Murakami said through the translator.
Murakami was referencing the White Sox’ 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of their best-of-five American League Division Series. His two-run home run in the fourth inning — a 440-foot rocket down the right-field line off Parker Messick — broke a scoreless tie, and five White Sox pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout.
The victory came after Chicago swept the Astros in two games in an American League Wild Card Series earlier in the week in Houston. Game 2 of the ALDS is set for Monday evening at Progressive Field.
The White Sox have been the surprise team of this season to everybody except Murakami, it seems.
“As a team, the White Sox coming in as the postseason, winning the series and then coming here in Cleveland, this is what I wanted to accomplish before I signed, and that’s what I’m doing now,” Murakami said. “So, this is pretty much everything.”
Munetaka Murakami has ‘legitimized’ White Sox
Murakami’s signing has meant everything to the White Sox. That becomes obvious quickly when talking to anyone connected with the franchise.
“The whole mindset changed when we signed Mune,” a White Sox person told FanSided. “We were legitimate again.”
Murakami played a major role in getting the White Sox into the postseason for the first time since 2021. The 26-year-old hit 35 home runs in 127 games as Chicago went 84-78 and finished one game behind the division-winning Guardians in the AL Central. He had a .207/.347/.478 slash line and 77 RBI.
“It was huge,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of adding Murakami. “And obviously he had to go out and be the guy that we expected him to be.”
Venable and the White Sox have been impressed by how quickly Murakami has assimilated into the clubhouse. He is a favorite among his teammates and is continuing to improve his English so he can communicate better with them.
“I think with Mune, it started with his impact in the clubhouse, the way that he engages with his teammates and really just engaged in a way that showed he did a really good job of being part of the group,” Venable said. “He helped the identity of our club.”
Munetaka Murakami proves naysayers wrong
Murakami was a major star in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. His 56 home runs in 2022 for the Yakult Swallows are the NPB single-season record for a native player, and he went deep 265 times overall during his eight-year career.
Yet MLB teams shied away from offering Murakami big money in free agency because they worried he might not be able to handle elite-velocity fastballs. Those concerns resurfaced late in the regular season, when Murakami hit just .151 in his last 50 games while striking out 84 times in 218 plate appearances.
Yet Murakami did not panic, and the White Sox did not feel any buyer’s remorse, even when he went 1-for-10 with five strikeouts in the Wild Card series.
“Even in the later part of the season when maybe he wasn’t performing like we all expected him to, he still has a presence in the lineup,” Venable said. “He has a presence in the clubhouse. Tough stretch there for him, but he never changed who he was. So, to have a guy like that come in the offseason and really legitimize your lineup, have the power and presence both in the lineup and the clubhouse means a lot.”
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