Yankees Need to AVOID This Japanese Star ❌ #yankees #nyy #newyorkyankees #mlb #baseball

The New York Yankees need to stay far away from this Japanese star. Munite Murkami is one of the most hyped up Japanese hitters of the last decade. And on paper, he’s an ideal Yankee. He’s a big hulking left-handed slugger who’s already put up 50 home runs in a season while in Japan. But the idea of Murakami has become significantly more attractive than his realistic output. Murakami had a near 50% swing and miss rate on breaking balls this year and his 63% contact percentage would be the lowest qualified mark for any MLB hitter this past season. Coming over from the NPB to MLB, Murakami will face the challenge of harder fast balls and better secondary pitches, which could result in a strikeout rate nearing 40%. Defensively, Murakami is a poor defender at both third base and first base, meaning his bat is the only part of his game where you can reasonably expect a positive output. With Ben Rice having a great offensive season in 2025 and Austin Wells finishing inside the top 10 in war among catchers in each of the last two seasons, Munich Murakami is not a good fit for the Yankees. Peace.

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8 comments

  2. Of the 10 teams who struck out the least. 6 of them didnt make the playoffs. Of the 10 teams who struck out the most, 5 of them made the playoffs. Swings and misses are part of the game now. The top 10 in strikeouts this year were James Wood (All Star), Riley Greene (All Star), Kvle Schwarber (All Star), Eugenio Suarez (All Star) Rafael Devers (4 WAR 140 OPS+) Randy Arozarena (3.9 WAR 119 OPS+), Ryan McMahon (not a good hitter), Cal Raleigh (would win MVP in 95% of seasons), Shohei Ohtani (Shohei Ohtani), and Elly De La Cruz (3.6 WAR 109 OPS+).

    Who cares if the guy strikes out 180 times? Every team has 4 of those guys now. Can he get on base and slug? Then bang. Ill take that all day. Imagine if we steered clear of Judge because he strikes out a lot?

  6. Isnt the offensive profile comparable to Ohtani before he came over? I agree that position fit isn't great but murakami is so young and has superstar upside, I think it's worth considering if he can play third or a corner

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