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The story
On September 15, the Chicago White Sox suffered a stunning comeback walk-off loss, 6-7, on the road against the Guardians in Cleveland. The go-ahead runs scored with two outs in the ninth, stretching the gap behind the AL Central-leading Guardians to 0.5 games. Munetaka Murakami, who played in the game, went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and a walk. Over his last 14 games since September began, he’s batting just .098 (5-for-51), with his OPS cratering to .436. In the 5ch reaction thread, users debated the causes behind this extreme slump, compared him to Kazuma Okamoto — who has been adjusting well around the same time — and discussed batting order and usage decisions.
Sponichi
[ September 16, 2026, 10:38 ]
AL White Sox 6-7 Guardians (September 15, 2026 Cleveland)
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
His OPS might drop below .800 too.
If he hits 200 strikeouts despite missing a month, that's insane.
He'll be back at SoftBank (his old NPB team) the year after next.
Now that teams have scouted him, he's got nothing.
5 hits, 2 HR, 6 BB, 31 K, .098 AVG, .436 OPS
that's just how Murakami is, and that's fine.
If he had 60 home runs to go with 181 strikeouts, sure, but it's only 31.
And he's on pace to top 200 K's.
Fine, keep starting him, but why not drop him down in the order?
Sure, he's got 30 home runs, but he needs to get to 40.
Even in that low-level division race, a guy swinging for the fences and batting .200 like Murakami is pretty bad.
The AL East could lock up the top 3 wild card spots, maybe even a 4th lol.
They're actually fighting directly with Okamoto's Blue Jays — and Okamoto's team lost again today too.
His strikeout rate could rank among the worst in MLB history.
uh-oh…
Comparing that to this guy's 200 K's after the shift ban — it's night and day.
Munetaka Murakami — US media turning skeptical… flip-flopping to 'the haters were right'
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2da713480e7cc74840fc36584c20167986a0983a
Whoa, he'd been getting nothing but praise and now they're finally turning on him.
If the team drops out of first and misses the playoffs on top of this, isn't he going to get absolutely torched?
People had been saying all along that Okamoto seemed more likely to succeed in MLB —
guess they were right.
That'd be Chris Carter.
The Brewers DFA'd him the same year he led the league in home runs.
Well, that was before the universal DH too.
Background and Talking Points
“OPS,” mentioned in the article, combines on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and a mark around .800 is generally considered excellent in MLB. Murakami has cratered to .436 over his last 14 games — a serious level of decline for a middle-of-the-order hitter. In the thread, users focused less on the sheer strikeout total and more on his prolonged slump with runners in scoring position (with some noting a roughly .107 average with two outs and runners in scoring position). That said, “full-swing” sluggers who pile up strikeouts alongside home runs aren’t unusual in modern MLB — though there are cautionary precedents too, like Chris Carter, mentioned in the thread, who was released despite leading the league in home runs because of his high strikeout rate. Whether Murakami can hold his starting job and qualify for the batting title will be one storyline to watch alongside his team’s fight for first place in the division.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “White Sox Stunned: Walk-Off Loss With Two Outs in the 9th — Murakami Goes 0-for-4 with 4 Whiffs as Series Splits 1-1, Gap Now 0.5 Games.”
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