Munetaka Murakami And The Yakult Swallows - Asian Baseballers

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Monday, July 8, 2024

Munetaka Murakami And The Yakult Swallows

 


Is Munetaka Murakami over-exerting himself?



When you look at Munetaka Murakami taking a stance to hit, you know something special will happen. It is the way he composes himself in every at-bat. He's just special. He had one of the most prolific seasons in the NPB in 2022 when he broke the single-season home run record by a Japanese-born player. 

 

But he appears to be in a funk.

 



He is hitting .232. But, despite that, he is on pace to hit 30 home runs this season. The question then becomes why? Why is it that Murakami has not had an MVP-type season in the last 2 years? One answer to this question is that the Yakult Swallows are not doing well, so he is over-exerting himself, trying to hit for the fences every at-bat. He is trying to carry the Yakult Swallows all by himself.

 

Compared to 2021, their championship season when he won his first MVP award, the Yakult Swallows were in 1st place. The following year, in 2022, the Swallows were on top of the central league once again. Right now, Murakami's team sits in last place with a winning % of .432, 7 games below the league-leading Hiroshima Carps. Unless an amazing turnaround happens, the Yakult Swallows will miss the playoffs.

 

Murakami's struggles began in the late 2022 season and carried over into 2023 when he mightily struggled at the beginning of the season. He ended up batting .256 at the end of the year. Murakami played 143 games in 2021, 141 games in 2022, and 140 games in 2023. He practically played all through the seasons in those years.

 

Injuries to key pitchers took the Swallows out of contention before the season even began. Combine that with the struggles of their main star, Murakami, and it is not a good recipe. Murakami is the star. He is the MVP. He is the home run king. It is unfair to hinge everything solely on Murakami. Baseball is a team sport; no one star can carry a team to the championship alone. The Swallows were a good team in 2021-2022 because they had healthy players who stepped up to the challenge.

 

Despite having limited depth in their pitching staff and a lack of talent pool in their minor league ranks, the friendly hitters ballpark is primed for Murakami to return and have another stellar year in the 2024-2025 season. 

 

After the 2025 season, Murakami can be posted. And it looks like he will be in the majors pretty soon. He just needs to have fun and relax. Once he starts doing that, the hits and home runs will come. We are talking about a 2X NPB MVP. He did not do it once, but rather twice. He will come around because he is just that good.


 

Murakami prefers the West Coast but has stated he is pretty much open to playing for the Yankees. He wants to play for a big market team and the Yankees are definitely that. 

 

It will be exciting to watch him here in the MLB. Imagine him in pinstripes? It will be amazing indeed.

 

Here's some of his highlights.

 


 



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