Murakami, stay away! It's just a waste of money, but the former big leaguer's cool-headed criticism, he can't hit fast balls more than 150km batting average of 0.095

Nov 10, 2025

Murakami, stay away! It's just a waste of money, but the former big leaguer's cool-headed criticism, he can't hit fast balls more than 150km batting average of 0.095
Murakami Munetaka. AP Yonhap News



It is true that there is a negative view of NPB giant Murakami Munetaka, who is aiming to advance to the Major League this winter.

The original team Yakult Swallows posted Murakami to 30 clubs through MLB on the 8th (Korea time). Murakami will be free to negotiate his joining with agent Casey Closs until December 23. Claus, who represented Derek Jeter, is currently an agent with CAA and will lead the negotiations of FA this winter, including Marcel Osuna, JT Realmuto, Lucas Giolito, John Gray, and Michael Lorenzen.

When Murakami was posted, local media quickly delivered scouting reports and expected contract size. The common assessment is that it has terrifying power.




However, negative opinions are also strong.

Local media outlet The Athletic reported 'His career raises high expectations, but also the red flags are scary. The biggest concern is frequent swings and misses, and experts say his long swing trajectory is a weakness and he will be overwhelmed by powerful fastballs and sharp breaking balls.

Murakami, stay away! It's just a waste of money, but the former big leaguer's cool-headed criticism, he can't hit fast balls more than 150km batting average of 0.095
Murakami Munetaka. AP Yonhap News
An NL scout in charge of the Pacific told the outlet "A lot of swings and misses show what kind of player Murakami is. The strikeout rate is high. Can I hit enough home runs to handle strikeouts? Who is close to Kyle Schwarber or Joey Gallo?," he said, expressing doubts. Gallo is a representative hitter of the style of 'All or Do', hitting 30 to 40 home runs in his heyday, but his batting average of around 20% and strikeout rate did not exceed the mid to late 30% range.




The scout then said, `The key is how many walks you get. In order to cope with MLB's fastball, the batting form will have to be modified. You can do that if you have the will. However, it is important how quickly you do it. He also suggested a solution.

Overall, it is questionable whether you can target fast balls in the mid- to late-90s and up to 100 miles and changeups, sliders, and cutters in the early to mid-90s.

Murakami, stay away! It's just a waste of money, but the former big leaguer's cool-headed criticism, he can't hit fast balls more than 150km batting average of 0.095
Murakami Munetaka. AP Yonhap News
In this regard, a former major leaguer's investment in Murakami draws attention by expressing the opinion that it is a `silly act.'




Lou Mulroney, a former infielder with the Boston Red Sox, criticized Murakami by saying that investing in Murakami is just a waste of money. On the 9th, he posted on his SNS page 'If this is true, it is a waste of money to invest in him. 'Stay away' The 'this' he mentioned refers to a stat with a batting average of just 0.095 on balls over 93 miles this year.

Mulroney was a major leaguer who played as a utility infielder for Boston, the San Diego Padres and the Cleveland Guardians for nine years from 1998-2005, with a career batting average of 0.271, 14 homers and an OPS of 0.716.

According to the official World Baseball website, Murakami's batting average on balls over 93 miles plunged to 0.128 in 2023 after hitting a career high of 0.327 in 2022, rebounded slightly to 0.190 in 2024 and slumped sharply to 0.095 this year.

In total, he has a batting average of 0.188 (47 hits in 250 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.762 on balls over 93 miles. Kazuma Okamoto, who is seeking to advance to the Major League this time, posted a batting average of 0.289 (86 hits in 298 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.916 for 93 miles or more. This is why there are doubts about Yamamoto's ability to cope with fast balls. In addition, only 16 of the NPB's 265 home runs have been hit by targeting more than 93 miles.

Murakami, stay away! It's just a waste of money, but the former big leaguer's cool-headed criticism, he can't hit fast balls more than 150km batting average of 0.095
Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skins, Major League Baseball's leading fastball starter. ImagesYonhap News
This year, Major League pitchers' average fastballs and sinkers were 94.5 miles and 93.8 miles, respectively. There are 681 pitchers with an average fastball speed of 93 miles or more. In short, Mulroney's doubt is whether Murakami can match Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skins, who has an average fastball speed of 98.2 miles.

However, since it is so powerful, a total of $100 million seems to be easy. Most media predicted more than $100 million. The Athletic columnist Jim Borden offered $160 million for six years, $180 million for MLBTR for eight years, $158.2 million for the Athletic statistics team for eight years, and $125 million for CBS Sports for five years, respectively. However, ESPN predicted negatively at $80 million for five years.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.