Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami hit his 20th home run of the season on May 28 during a 15-2 victory against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field.
The 26-year-old Japanese slugger achieved a historic Major League Baseball milestone for the most home runs by a rookie before June since 1901.
Murakami finished the game 2-for-4 with one home run, one RBI, three runs scored, a walk, and a stolen base.
His milestone blast came in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out.
He drove a 93.9 mph fastball from Minnesota reliever Travis Adam 432 feet over the left-center field wall.
This performance followed a game on Tuesday where Murakami hit his 19th home run, a two-run game-tying shot off Minnesota starter Joe Ryan in the eighth inning.
According to RotoWire, Murakami finished Tuesday's extra-inning loss 1-for-5 with an additional run scored, posting an exit velocity of 108.4 mph on the blast.
According to MLB stats expert Sarah Langs, Murakami's 20 home runs through his first 55 MLB games rank third all-time behind Cody Bellinger's 22 in 2017 and Wally Berger's 21 in 1930.
He also joins Frank Thomas and Jim Thome in White Sox franchise history for hitting 21 home runs before June.
The historic pace places Murakami second in the overall Major League Baseball home run race, trailing only Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber.
In the American League specifically, Murakami holds the solo lead over Houston Astros hitter Yordan Alvarez and New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
Statistical data from RotoWire highlights Murakami's power profile, noting a . 313 ISO and .
917 OPS across 235 plate appearances.
He operates as a three-true-outcomes hitter, accumulating 77 strikeouts and 41 walks. He has homered, struck out, or walked in nearly 59 percent of his plate appearances.
The White Sox signed Murakami to a two-year, $34 million contract last December through the posting system, which pays him $17 million for the 2026 season.
According to starnewskorea.
com, this contract is $3 million less than the $20 million deal signed by Atlanta Braves infielder Kim Ha-seong, making Murakami a highly cost-effective asset.
An anonymous American League official commented on the rookie's recruitment process, as reported by ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
"It was a bad miss by everyone," said an anonymous American League official, regarding the failure of other teams to secure Murakami during free agency.
Prior to his move to Major League Baseball, Murakami won two MVP awards in Japan's Nippon Professional League.
He previously set a record for the most single-season home runs by a Japanese-born player when he hit 56 home runs for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 2022.
With the victory on Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox improved their regular-season record to 28-27.
The team now sits 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the lead in the American League Central division ahead of their series finale against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon.
