The Chicago White Sox have one of the most fascinating rookies in Major League Baseball in young slugger Munetaka Murakami.
Murakami has taken the league by storm all season to this point. The 26-year-old entered the day on Monday slashing .235/.376/.530 with a .906 OPS, three doubles, 36 RBIs, 41 walks and an American League-leading 17 homers. On Monday, he had yet another good day as he blasted his 18th homer of the season.
It took him just 53 games to hit the 18th homer of his career. MLB’s Sarah Langs shared on X that Murakami is actually tied with Mark McGwire and Colson Montgomery for the seventh-most homers through a player’s first 53 games of their career. Cody Bellinger has the record for the most homers hit in the first 53 games of his career with 22 back in 2017.
That’s not all, he also has a chance to tie the record for most homers by a rookie before the month of June. Right now, McGwire and Pete Alonso have the record at 19, as shared on X by Beisbolfr.com’s Francys Romero.
“Most home runs by a rookie before June in the modern era (since 1901): Pete Alonso (19, 2019), Mark McGwire (19, 1987), Munetaka Murakami (18, 2026),” Romero wrote.
If you can have your name mentioned in the same sentence as Alonso and McGwire as a rookie, you’re doing something right. When Alonso was a rookie, he led the league with 53 homers. In 1987, McGwire led the league with 49 long balls as a rookie.
Right now, Murakami is on pace for 55 long balls in 162 games. Also, he has six games left to either tie — or even surpass — McGwire and Alonso.
Chicago fans have to be excited about what the young slugger is doing right now because it’s impressive. He’s crushing the ball at a historic rate and signed just a two-year, $34 million deal. That’s nothing when you take into account the production he has been able to give the White Sox on the field.
Baseball is better and more exciting when guys are crushing the ball out of the ballpark. Murakami, Kyle Schwarber and Aaron Judge have given fans a show so far this season. Hopefully, all three can keep it up. Judge and Schwarber entered the 2026 season with the expectation being that they would hit the ball out of the ballpark at a prolific rate. Murakami has been a bit of a surprise.
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