Munetaka Murakami's hot start is closer to Shohei Ohtani than White Sox fans realize

Ever since this season began, I've been hoping to write this article, comparing the start of new Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami's MLB journey to that of his fellow countryman Shohei Ohtani. Audacious? Perhaps. After all, Ohtani is unquestionably the best player in major league baseball over the past few seasons. However, with each Murakami blast, it seems at least plausible to take a look at how his electric start compares to that of Ohtani.

After crunching the numbers, here's a side-by-side comparison of the first 60+ at-bats from Ohtani's 2018 season and Murakami's 2026 year.

Munetaka Murakami and Shohei Ohtani are different, but both stars in their own way

Looking at Murakami's numbers to start his MLB career, to paraphrase Dennis Green after one of my favorite Chicago Bears' wins of all-time, "He is who we thought he was [to a point]." The Southsiders' first baseman is so far showing the power and plate discipline that he displayed in eight seasons for Toyko's Yakult Swallows. While in Japan, Murakami averaged an impressive 33 home runs and 85 walks per season. His OBP % (.394 vs. .386), SLG % (.550 vs. .522), and OPS (.945 vs. .909) are nearly identical to his early numbers in the states. Unfortunately, his tendency to strikeout also followed him to the US. He whiffed 133.5 times per season in Japan and is so far on-pace to strikeout over 223 times for the White Sox. I guess that should be expected as he faces higher quality pitching.

There are a couple qualities we haven't seen translate just yet to this side of the Pacific. First is his batting average. In Japan, he was a .273 hitter. As he makes adjustments to facing American hurlers, it will be interesting to see if he can replicate that average here. The second is Murakami's gap power. He averaged over 21 doubles a year for the Swallows. So far though for the Sox, it's been primarily a walk, strikeout, or home run. That may be the type of hitter Murakami is at the big league level, and to be honest, that would be just fine.

So, how does this compare to a young Ohtani? Murakami is a different type of hitter, but the numbers are surprisingly similar. Ohtani, at this point in his rookie season, had a much higher batting average, SLG %, and OPS, he was not as patient at the plate, which is why Murakami's OBP is not that far off from that of the former Los Angeles Angel. Murakami is also close to Ohtani in Runs, RBI, and Home Runs.

Digging deeper into the statistics, the comparison still holds. When they do hit the ball out of the park, they hit it hard. According to Statcast, Murakami's Exit Velocity of 94.8, good enough to rank in the top four percent in the league, is nearly identical to Ohtani's 92.9. The same is true of their Max Exit Velocity (114.1 to 113.9). Even more interesting is that 23 year-old Ohtani also struggled to make contact over the entirety of his first year. His K% was in the bottom 8% of MLB (Murakami's is in the bottom 7%).

To be clear, I am NOT saying that Murakami will turn out to be as a great a Major Leaguer as Ohtani (although, you never know). What I am saying is that the comparison of the beginning of their MLB careers is actually not that different in many, many areas upon inspection. While Murakami is two years older at the time of his debut and profiles as a different hitter than Ohtani was, both players could end up being franchise superstars when it's all said and done, and the White Sox should seriously consider a long term deal with Murakami before the season is done. The fact that the comparison is close enough to warrant the writing of this article gives White Sox fans some hope in a season that has been pretty disappointing to-date.

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