“Munetaka Murakami is a boom or bust guy” - Insider draws Shohei Ohtani comparison amid strikeout concerns ahead of MLB move

There are two sides of coin in Munetaka Murakami's free agency. On one side, he's one of the most feared hitters in NPB history, hitting 30+ home runs a season easily. On the other hand, his strikeout rate has been concerning, reaching around 28-29% in 2023-2025. This is considered the worst rate, even for MLB, let alone for NPB, where the strikeout rates are relatively lower.

Because of this, it has been tough to identify the market for Murakami, according to MLB insider Ken Rosenthal.

“He’s the biggest mystery on the market because we don’t hear, or haven’t heard, many teams involved," Rosenthal said. "That doesn’t mean there aren’t teams involved; we just don’t know where this is right now. And sometimes these negotiations with Japanese players, and other players too, you just don’t hear much about the teams involved. We frankly haven’t heard much about Okamoto or Imai either in terms of teams."

The baseball analyst also talked about Murakami's comparison with four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. While talking about Murakami's strikeout concern, the insider said:

"Murakami is a guy has 80 power, but there are serious concerns about the swing-and-miss tendencies. Now, I wrote in my notes column that Ohtani’s ages 18-to-22 seasons had an even higher strikeout rate in Japan than Murakami has in his career. But if you look at Seiya Suzuki, his strikeout rate in Japan was much lower than Murakami’s, and he has been a successful major league hitter. So Murakami is something of a boom-or-bust guy, at least in the eyes of clubs."

Ken Rosenthal said he can't predict if Murakami will be able to sign with an MLB team by Monday at 5 pm ET, after which his 45-day negotiating window expires.

Latest on Munetaka Murakami's free agency

Munetaka Murakami was posted to MLB by the Yakult Swallows and his MLB future will depend on whether he gets signed by Monday. At the moment, there has been no clear frontrunner in his free agency.

The likes of Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and even the Pittsburgh Pirates have been linked with Murakami, but still, there has been no solid report to indicate any interest.

It remains to be seen if the Japanese slugger is able to find a future in MLB.

Edited by Krutik Jain