White Sox's Munetaka Murakami makes offseason concerns look ridiculous in hindsight

This past offseason, there were a lot of interesting free agents available on the market, but none might've been as polarizing as Munetaka Murakami.

The slugger showed 50-homer upside, but there were plenty of concerns about his game translating to the Major Leagues, specifically, his contact ability. But the Chicago White Sox slugger has quelled those worries already.

As ESPN's David Schoenfield writes, Murakami, through the first few games of the 2026 season and his MLB career, has shown enough to make the offseason concerns seem a bit ridiculous in hindsight.

Munetaka Murakami dispels offseason contact concerns

"Concern's that Murakami's contact rates in Japan might make him a Joey Gallo-type slugger in MLB dropped his final signing price to two years and $34 million, which could turn into a bargain for the White Sox," Schoenfield writes.

It's only been three games, but so far, the White Sox slugger has three home runs, all solo shots, and a 1.872 OPS on the year with a .333 batting average.

The contact rates might still end up being a concern over the course of a full season, but the overreaction to those contact rates has let the White Sox get one of the better power-hitters in the game for cheap.

There is still some worry about Murakami's contact, specifically on faster pitching. His three home runs came on pitches under 93 mph. On 95-plus mph pitches, Murakami has swung eight times, resulting in four misses, three fouls, and one groundout.

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Facing pitching above 95 mph might still be an area of uncertainty for Murakami, but the overall concerns about his game might've gone a bit too far with how good he's looked through three games.

The White Sox got a major steal by getting him on a $34 million two-year deal. The offseason contact concerns, while he's yet to fully disprove them, might have gone too far.

His power might be among the best in the Majors, and while his contact might not be in an ideal spot, his power is something worth getting excited about.

Murakami has made the offseason concerns about his game look a bit ridiculous in hindsight through the first weekend of the season. While there are still holes in his game, the concerns during his free agency might have gone too far.

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