The master of bung bung bung swing, the two-faced home run king Murakami's challenge to post Murakami, what is MLB's cool evaluation?

Nov 09, 2025

The master of bung bung bung swing, the two-faced home run king Murakami's challenge to post Murakami, what is MLB's cool evaluation?



'If you get caught, you'll move on. If you don't get caught, strike out.'"

Japan's best home run hitter, Murakimi Munetaka (Yakurt Swallows), knocked on the door of the Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball's attention is focused on Murakami's posting, which set the record for the most home runs in Japanese professional baseball by hitting 56 home runs in 2022.

MLB.COM, the Major League's website, began the posting process on the 8th (Korea time). '30 ML clubs wanting to sign Murakami could negotiate by December 22nd'




Murakami is Japan's best power heater. He hit 56 home runs in 2022 and achieved solid stardom. In that year, he hit .318 with 134 RBIs, 114 runs scored, and 1.168 OPS, becoming the youngest three-time batting champion and being named Central League MVP. Continuing that momentum, he showed off his powerful power as the center hitter of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Japanese national team in March 2023. In particular, he hit a home run against Merrill Kelly in the final against the U.S.

The master of bung bung bung swing, the two-faced home run king Murakami's challenge to post Murakami, what is MLB's cool evaluation?
Murakami who hit a walk-off hit in the ninth inning of the 2023 WBC semifinal against Mexico. Sports Chosun DB
However, in the 2023 season, batting average and home run productivity plummeted. He played in 140 games with a batting average of 0.256, 31 homers, 84 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.875. In 2024, the batting average is lower to 0.244. He hit 33 home runs. This year has been worse. He played only 56 games due to frequent injuries.

Above all, Murakami's weaknesses are his high swing and strikeout rate. Since 2022, the swing-and-miss ratio and strikeout rate have continued to increase. In 2022, the best year, the strikeout rate was 20.9% and the swing and miss rate was 31.7%, but this year, the figures rose to 28.6% and 36.7%, respectively.




In response, global sports media The Athletic reported that although Japanese professional baseball has fewer strikeouts than Major League Baseball, Murakami's strikeout rate has been close to 30% over the past three years. It also pointed to Murakami's inaccurate batting, saying the contact rate for fast balls over 93 miles has been only 63% since 2022.

The master of bung bung bung swing, the two-faced home run king Murakami's challenge to post Murakami, what is MLB's cool evaluation?
Photo capture=Yakurt Swallows SNS
MLB.COM also 'The high swing and miss rate in the Japanese league is a bad sign. When NPB's big guns cross into MLB, the probability of contact tends to decrease. Murakami's swing and strikeout rate this year is the highest in the Major League, he expressed concern.

Irregular defense is also pointed out as a problem for Murakami's success in posting. Murakami played third base for Yakult, but was not a strong defender. It is also useless as a first baseman. This could lead to fewer clubs opting for Murakami.




MLB.COM reported that the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, Seattle, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Boston are showing interest in Murakami. Attention is focusing on which club Murakami will be chosen.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.