The best sluggers in Japanese baseball will challenge the major leagues.
Local media such as “MLB.com ” reported on the 8th (Korea Standard Time) that posting for third baseman Murakami Munetaka (25) of the Yakult Swallows in the Japanese professional baseball league will begin.
Murakami’s posting will begin at 8 a.m. Eastern Time on the 8th and run until 5 p.m. on December 22.
사진 확대 Murakami had 56 home runs in 2022. 사진=ⓒAFPBBNews = News1
During this period, Murakami can freely negotiate with the 30 light bulbs. The original Yakult club receives a certain percentage of the amount depending on the size of the contract as a posting fee.
If an agreement is not reached within this period, it will return to the original team Yakult.
Murakami’s chances of entering the Major League have been steadily raised. In December last year, it was reported that the 2025 season was Murakami’s last season in Japan.
In June, team president and owner Tetsuya Hayashida expressed his intention to post Murakami in an interview with Japanese media.
Murakami, who is 188 centimeters tall and weighs 96 kilograms, played in a total of 892 games in Japanese professional baseball and recorded a batting average of 0.270 on-base percentage of 0.394 slugging percentage of 0.557 246 home runs and 647 RBIs.
In the 2022 season, he recorded 56 home runs, surpassing the record of the most home runs (55) by Japanese player set by Wang Jeong-gi (Osada Haru) in 1964.
사진 확대 Murakami played for Japan at WBC in 2023. 사진=ⓒAFPBBNews = News1
He has a two-time Central League MVP and four-time All-Star career and set the league’s youngest triple crown record with a triple crown at the age of 22 in 2022.
A scout who has watched Murakami several times told MLB.com , “I had strong power. It will also work in the Major League,” he predicted.
In Japan, the main position is third base, but MLB.com introduced that there are predictions that the first baseman will be more suitable in the Major League.
The New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Seattle Mariners, the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants, and the Boston Red Sox are reportedly interested in him.
[San Francisco (USA) = KIM JAE HO, MK Sports Correspondent]