The Yankees have all to gain and nothing to lose if they sign Murakami.
Although the Dodgers are considered contenders for Munetaka Murakami, the New York Yankees are a better fit for the 25-year-old Japanese superstar. While the slugger's production has dipped over the last two seasons, that does not mean he won't return to his old form. His critics are not shy to point out his high strikeout rate of over 27% and his low BA against pitches over 94 mph.
He has struggled against breaking balls from southpaws and off-speed from right-handed pitchers. While looking at his MVP seasons of 2021-2022 and comparing them to the next 3 years, it appears that there might be underlying reasons for his struggles. While 2023 is harder to explain, 2024 is a bit easier to do so, as he underwent surgery at the end of the year, indicating that it may have been nursed in an unknown period of time. He played throughout 2024, but the elbow may have troubled him. The elbow issue may have persisted throughout the season, but we can understand, considering Japanese culture, why he chose to shrug it off. Doing your best even when hurt is common practice. He could have been hurt but shrugged it off, causing him to change some of his mechanical approach at the plate, as he became incredibly pull-oriented as a hitter.
During his MVP seasons, Murakami's stance was a bit different from when he started to struggle between 2023 and 2025. 2025 is a small sample, so let's not include that when starting this analysis. In his 2021-2022 MVP seasons, Murakami's stance at the plate was slightly different. It may not be obvious to most, but I notice it because baseball is a big part of my day. Previously, he maintained an upright stance and consistently angled his bat towards the sky. This change made him more consistent and allowed him to utilize the entire field, resulting in a higher batting average. In 2023-2025, he wiggled his bat more consistently. There is a problem with this approach because he also lifts his front leg as a timing mechanism when the time hits. The wiggle stands in the way of the timing approach because when you wiggle the bat while trying to hit balls of varying speeds, the placement of the wiggle also has to be perfectly timed in unison with the front leg and the actual swing. While the slight wiggling of the bat will not hurt his power production, it will result in more strikeouts, pulling of the ball, forced swings, and a lower batting average. This can also indirectly affect his OBP, as well as his batting average (BA), which the data indicates.
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