Earlier this week, it was reported that Nippon Professional Baseball star slugger Munetaka Murakami will officially be posted this winter, making him eligible to sign as a free agent with any MLB team. In that report from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand
, it was also noted that the Phillies as well as the Mets, Yankees, and Mariners are among the teams expected to make a strong play to win Murakami’s services.Murakami is a power hitting corner infielder and will not turn 26 until February. He has slugged
265 career home runs across 8 seasons in NPB, all for the Yakult Swallows, while carrying a career .945 OPS. Murakami is a two-time NPB Central League MVP winner, capturing the award in 2021 and 2022. That 2022 season was Murakami’s best, as he also hit for the Triple Crown and blasted a career high 56 home runs and 134 RBIs. The lefty hitter also won the gold medal with Team Japan at the 2023 World Baseball Classic and collected a two-run, walk-off double in the semifinal against Mexico as well as hitting the game-tying home run in the second inning off of Merrill Kelly of Team USA in the final.
An oblique injury limited Murakami to just 69 games in 2025, but he still managed to hit 24 home runs and log a 1.051 OPS.
However, there are a few question marks about Murakami’s ability to translate his game to MLB, especially because of his concerning amount swing-and-miss to his bat.
Murakami’s swing rate of 47.8% in 2025 would have tied him for the 60th highest mark in MLB with the likes of Vinnie Pasquantino, Spencer Steer, Heliot Ramos, and Paul Goldschmidt. However, Murakami’s contact rate on those swings of 63.9% would have been the lowest in MLB by far in 2025, with the next closest being Aaron Judge at 67.6%. As TGP’s own Anthony Esbensen pointed out, you have to go all the way back to 2022 to find a qualified MLB hitter with such a low contact rate as Murakami in 2025, and that hitter was Luke Voit at 63.7%. Voit hit .226 that year with a .710 OPS and 22 home runs in 135 games split between the Yankees and Padres.
Because of that contact rate, there are legitimate concerns about holes in Murakami’s swing despite his impressive offensive production in Japan. He had a 28.6% strikeout rate in 2025 and has never had a K rate lower than 20% in any of his seven seasons in NPB. His 2025 strikeout rate would have ranked as the ninth highest in MLB among qualified hitters. In fact, in that aforementioned semifinal game against Mexico in the WBC, Murakami was 0-4 with three strikeouts before delivering the winning double. Altogether, Murakami hit .231 with an .826 OPS but struck out 13 times in Japan’s seven games during the tournament.
It’s widely expected that Murakami could be one of the hottest names on the free agent market this winter. It’s possible that he could command upwards of $100M or more due to his age and power.
For the Phillies, Murakami’s defensive positions make him an awkward fit. Acquiring him would necessitate one of three things: trading Alec Bohm elsewhere to free up 3B, moving Bryce Harper back to the OF or DH to free up first base, or letting Kyle Schwarber walk to free up DH.
Nevertheless, it’s no secret that the Phillies have been making big efforts to try and breakthrough in the Asian market. They of course reportedly had the highest offer on the table for Yoshinobu Yamamoto before he ultimately signed with the Dodgers in December 2023. It makes sense that Philadelphia is once again speculated to be among the main suitors for Murakami. What remains to be seen is just how serious they may get or what their chances are of finally landing a Japanese star.
So, should the Phillies pursue Munetaka Murakami? Or do his whiff tendencies scare you off? How much money would you be comfortable offering? Where would you put him on the field?