Munetaka Murakami's hot start for White Sox isn't a fluke for 2 reasons

Munetaka Murakami's hot start for White Sox isn't a fluke for 2 reasons originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Chicago White Sox made a huge move this offseason, being the team to sign Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami on a very reasonable $34 million contract.

So far this season, he's been great, hitting only .206, but with four home runs and a .892 OPS. The White Sox slugger is off to a hot start, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see some fans wondering if this is a fluky start to 2026 for Murakami.

But, as MLB.com's Mike Petriello found, there are two reasons why Murakami's start to 2026 isn't a fluke, but rather the norm going forward.

Munetaka Murakami's hot start is not a fluke for 2 reasons

"Likely good news for: Believing in J. Walker's breakout, C. Walker's rebound, or Murakami's adjustment," Petriello writes.

What Petriello is referring to is two statistics that Murakami is placing well in, with bat speed being one, but the more important being his Blast rate on swings.

"Blasts" refer to when a hitter squares up a baseball with a fast bat swing, and with Murakami's average swing speed being 74 mph, he's more than capable of reaching that threshold on his swings.

According to Baseball Savant, Murakami's "Swing percentage" for Blasts is a strong 19.0%, which is tied for 14th best in all of Major League Baseball.

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Put another way, on 19% of Murakami's swings this season, he squares up the baseball and makes hard contact with a fast swing.

Those kinds of swings will lead to home runs, as seen by his four-homer start to the season. He's been one of the best hitters in the Majors, and Petriello found that those are statistics that lead to success over the course of a full season.

Murakami has been one of the more fun hitters in the Majors to begin the season, and this hot start doesn't look like a fluke for the White Sox slugger.