As Netflix’s pregame show dragged along for the Home Run Derby, a young fan decked in Philadelphia Phillies gear was asked who he thought would win the night’s biggest power-hitting showcase.
He had two hometown favorites to choose from. Bryce Harper, a former Home Run Derby champion, and Kyle Schwarber, who blasted 55 home runs in the 2018 Derby before finishing runner-up to Harper. But instead of picking the players representing the name on his chest, the fan went with Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami.
While Murakami may have exited the Home Run Derby in the first round after hitting nine homers, he will leave Philadelphia as one of the biggest winners. From a viral interview with Pat McAfee to sporting a fresh pair of Air Jordans, fans across the league are finding out what White Sox fans have known for months. Murakami is a superstar in the making.
Murakami was already a certified superstar when he left Japan for Major League Baseball. The resume speaks for itself. Two Nippon Professional Baseball MVP awards, a record-setting 56-home run season in 2022, the most ever by a Japanese-born player in a single season, and nearly a decade spent terrorizing opposing pitchers.
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Yet for all those accomplishments, one question lingered: would his game translate against the best competition in the world? The skepticism around the league was in large part why he landed in the Chicago White Sox’s lap.
Seven months later, the skepticism has all but disappeared. Murakami hasn’t just become a star on the South Side. Between his All-Star selection, Home Run Derby invitation and new Jordan Brand endorsement, he’s on a fast track to becoming one of the faces of Major League Baseball.
But in order to become a household name, you need to back it up with your play on the field. Murakami is already checking that box. Despite being limited to 60 games in the first half due to a hamstring injury, the 26-year-old has already racked up 20 home runs, driven in 42 RBIs, and posted a .911 OPS, earning his first MLB All-Star nod.
While he isn’t likely to surpass his fellow Japanese-born star Shohei Ohtani in notoriety anytime soon, he has one thing going for him that Ohtani doesn’t. An outgoing personality and demeanor that is easy to embrace. Ohtani may be the greatest baseball player of all time, but he is boring. He values his privacy and while there is nothing wrong with that, his interviews are short, deliberate, and sometimes come across as robotic as a result.
The language barrier undoubtedly presents an additional challenge. But Murakami faces that same obstacle and has had no trouble letting his personality shine. Monday afternoon provided the perfect example. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Murakami was asked what kind of music he liked. Although he relied on an interpreter for most of the interview, he answered in English with a grin, “Strokin’.” Moments later, he and McAfee were singing along, with Murakami reciting Clarence Carter’s lyrics in impressively fluent English.
It certainly helps that Murakami landed in a White Sox clubhouse full of baseball lunatics. Being surrounded by that kind of youthful energy every day has a way of bringing anyone out of their shell.
It also helps that this lovable cast of characters is playing winning baseball. If the White Sox reach the postseason, it will complete one of baseball’s most remarkable turnarounds, and Murakami will be at the center of it all. Ask Murakami, though, and simply reaching the postseason isn’t enough.
‘We’re not afraid of anything right now,” Murakami told reporters. “We want to win and we have that winning culture in our blood, so we’re going to look forward to going to the World Series and that’s where we’re aiming right now. Nothing is surprising us at the moment.”
