White Sox’ Munetaka Murikami their new slugger, but will this work out?

No. 5 in your White Sox program, No. 1 in general manager Chris Getz’s heart.

“One of the most prolific power hitters on the planet,” Getz gushed about Japanese newcomer Munetaka Murakami at the slugger’s introductory press conference at Rate Field.

“Mune” (rhymes with “loony”) mania has arrived on the South Side, where the lefty-hitting bopper — who in 2022 homered 56 times to break the great Sadaharu Oh’s Nippon Professional Baseball record for a Japanese-born player — pulled a Sox jersey around his muscular 6-2, 215-pound frame for the first time Monday.

“White Sox Nation, you guys are in my heart,” Murakami said before unfurling a sock with the team’s logo on it and adding, with a beaming smile, “White Sox!”

His new boss, as excitable as a librarian by nature, didn’t even try to play the two-year, $34 million acquisition of a former NPB Triple Crown winner and two-time MVP — who’s still just 25 years old — close to the vest.

“We believe Mune is going to be a star in this game,” Getz said.

Just how momentous of a swing was it for the traditionally tightfisted Sox to connect with a 2021 and 2022 MVP who piled up 265 homers and 722 RBI in 1,003 NPB games?

“It really can’t be overstated how significant this boost is,” Getz said.

“To be able to get the chance to bring someone like Mune into the city of Chicago to be part of this organization, we know we’re headed in the right direction. We’re on the constant pursuit to find ways to get better, and we feel like we just found a way to accelerate this perhaps to a rate we really didn’t anticipate going into this offseason.”

If Getz is right, it will look like a down-to-the-studs rebuild that’s turning into something beautiful. A club with three straight 100-plus-loss seasons can turn the corner with young strength up the middle of the field at catcher, shortstop, second base and — well, he’s still in the mix as of this instant, isn’t he? — Luis Robert Jr. in center field. Bolster that with Murakami at first base, assuming he can lock down a primary role there, and at the heart of the lineup and it’ll be look out above.

“We’re going to look up and, all of a sudden, we’re going to start working our way up the standings,” Getz said. “We felt that a little bit last year, we’re going to take another jump [this] year and we’re just going to continue to build off this momentum.”

But what if Getz is wrong?

Murakami’s strikeout rate of at least 28% in each of the last three seasons is a major concern.

“I do have the confidence to work hard and really face my challenges,” Murakami said via a translator. “So I am pretty confident I can succeed in the States. I’m not really looking at this from a numbers standpoint. I really want to compete every day and face the challenges. If I’m contributing to the team every night, every game, I feel that’s a success for me.”

His defense is regarded as being far from a strength.

“I will relentlessly do whatever it takes to get better at defense,” he promised. “I’m going to get better.”

Even if he does, he’ll be eligible for free agency after two seasons unless the Sox extend his contract. If Murakami becomes the star here that Getz foresees, it won’t take much, based on history, for his potential payday to exceed where the Sox will be comfortable going. One can practically imagine the frustrating letdown already.

And Robert? If he gets traded before spring training, an upward trajectory on the field at the big-league level will be a tougher sell by the front office.

Murakami didn’t have to go to the Sox. His options clearly didn’t play out as lucratively as he might have hoped for, or else he’d have a richer, lengthier deal somewhere, but he still had to say yes to the place where the unthinkable — a record 121 losses — happened in 2024.

Why? No, really, why this of all teams?

“Obviously, I’ve heard that this club has lost a lot of games in the past, but that is in the past,” he said. “I only look forward. I’m excited with the exciting young players that this club has, and I’m ready to take on that challenge to grow with the group and try to build something special here.”

Perhaps he ordered whatever Getz was eating.

“The last couple years, we have done everything we can to tell our story, show baseball what the White Sox are all about,” Getz said. “I think our fan base, the city of Chicago, major league baseball, across the United States, everyone sees [us] coming.”

Now that’s singing happy tunes.

Mune tunes?

That’s all, folks.