MILWAUKEE (AP) — Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami wasted no time hitting his first homer in the major leagues.
The circumstances surrounding that drive left the Chicago White Sox first baseman in no mood to celebrate.
Chicago was trailing 14-1 in the ninth inning when Murakami capped his MLB debut by sending a 1-1 pitch from Milwaukee’s Jake Woodford over the right field wall. Murakami’s 384-foot shot with a 103-mph exit velocity closed the scoring
in the White Sox’s 14-2 season-opening loss Thursday.
“I’m happy that I was able to take the first step as a major league baseball player, but at the end of the day, we lost the game,” Murakami said through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “This is what I’m mostly disappointed about.”
The White Sox signed Murakami to a two-year, $34 million contract in hopes that his power could boost a team that’s lost more than 100 games each of the last three seasons. Murakami hit 246 homers over eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Central League – including a 56-homer season in 2022.
Murakami showed signs Thursday that he could deliver. He drew a pair of walks against Jacob Misiorowski — the Brewers’ flame-throwing right-hander — and reached base on three of his four plate appearances.
Much of the concern surrounding Murakami regarded his high strikeout totals in Japan and whether he’d be able to make consistent contact against major league pitching. Yet on a day when White Sox batters struck out 20 times, Murakami and Luisangel Acuña were the only Chicago starters who didn’t strike out.
“Great day overall for him,” White Sox manager Will Venable. “He controlled the zone really well. To ger that one (homer) out of the way was nice for him. Great swing.”
Chicago's 20 strikeouts matched the highest total by any lineup ever in a nine-inning game, according to Sportradar. Thursday marked the 10th time it has happened.
Murakami, 26, said he was surprised that he felt “fairly collected” and didn’t have the jitters that might be expected from someone making his debut. That was apparent from the two walks he picked up.
“I was able to look at the ball really well,” Murakami said. “I was really patient in the box.”
Although Murakami didn’t leave his debut with a win, he did get a memento. Steve Pollack, a fan wearing Brewers gear, caught Murakami’s home-run ball and gave it back to him in exchange for an autographed bat.
“Everybody wanted us to give it to the kids behind us,” Pollack said as he held his new bat outside the White Sox’s locker room.
Pollack said it was the first home-run ball he had ever caught. Murakami expressed gratitude to the fan while indicating where the ball will end up going.
“I’ll probably send it home, back to Japan,” he said.
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