After slogging through the first half of September, the Chicago White Sox surrendered their lead in the AL Central for the first time since July. Munetaka Murakami’s slump in the heart of the lineup was a major factor in the White Sox offensive struggles.
But just one day after losing the division lead, the White Sox found themselves tied with the Cleveland Guardians for first place — with Murakami providing the offensive spark.
Since the All-Star break, Murakami has seen his slugging percentage drop from .540 to .402, while his OPS has taken an even steeper tumble, falling from .911 to .722. Over that span, he has hit just .177 with 96 strikeouts, as many of the concerns surrounding his ability to make consistent contact in the strike zone before the season have begun to resurface.
But despite his recent struggles, the 26-year-old came through when the White Sox desperately needed him. After dropping two of three on the road against Cleveland, Chicago returned home and leaned on Murakami for a much-needed offensive spark.
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His three-run homer Thursday night proved to be all the offense the White Sox needed in a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field. And it was no cheap shot. Murakami jumped on the first pitch he saw in the first inning, sending a Framber Valdez sinker 423 feet over the center field fence.
Later, in the bottom of the eighth, he legged out a triple down the right-field line for the first three-bagger of his MLB career.
It was a much-needed boost for both the White Sox and Murakami, who entered the night hitting just 5-for-52 with two homers and six RBIs in September. Since August, he had gone just 20-for-154 with 77 strikeouts.
For much of the season, the White Sox offense has risen and fallen with Murakami’s production. Despite missing several weeks with an injury, Murakami leads the White Sox with 32 home runs and a .471 slugging percentage while ranking third on the team in runs scored and on-base percentage.
Getting him hot at the right time could be critical as Chicago enters the final stretch, with his bat potentially playing a major role in the team’s push for the playoffs and whatever comes next. It may be an unfair amount of pressure to put on a rookie, but the numbers don’t lie.
The team’s best month of the season came in May, when the White Sox went 18-10. During that stretch, Murakami posted a .938 OPS with eight home runs, both his highest monthly totals of the season. Outside of a five-game stretch in March, September has been the White Sox’s worst month, with the team going just 6-10. It has also been Murakami’s worst month at the plate, as he is hitting just .125 with a .567 OPS.
Even amid his months-long slump, Murakami still ranks near the top of the league in barrel rate, hard-hit rate, bat speed, chase rate and walk rate.
While he has always been prone to striking out at a high rate, his inability to consistently make contact in the strike zone has emerged as a major concern. Murakami’s near-43% whiff rate is the worst in MLB, despite a 22.3% chase rate that ranks in the 80th percentile.
It was one of two major red flags that concerned MLB teams when Murakami hit free agency. The other was whether he could handle the increased velocity in MLB — a concern he has already put to rest.
