Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami was placed on the 10-day injured list May 30 due to a right hamstring strain suffered the previous day during a home game against the Detroit Tigers [1]. The injury occurred May 29 as Murakami ran to first base, forcing him to leave the game early [1]. White Sox manager Will Venable estimated the outfielder would miss four to six weeks [1].

Before the injury, Murakami appeared in all 57 games of the 2026 MLB season, batting .240 with 20 home runs and 41 RBIs [1]. He led the American League in home runs, surpassing notable players including Aaron Judge multiple times this season [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].

Murakami set several rookie home run records in May. On May 25, he hit his 18th home run against the Minnesota Twins, tying the rookie Japanese MLB record previously held by Kenji Johjima [2, 3, 4, 5]. This home run was his 18th in 53 games, tying him with Mark McGwire and Colson Montgomery for seventh fastest to reach 18 homers in MLB history [5].

Two days later, on May 27, Murakami hit his 19th home run, tying the MLB rookie record for most home runs before June, previously set by McGwire (1987) and Pete Alonso (2019) [6, 7]. On May 28, he hit his 20th home run, tying the American League lead with Yordan Alvarez and becoming only the second Japanese rookie since Shohei Ohtani to reach 20 homers in a season [10, 11, 12]. Murakami described the pitch as “quite tempting and difficult to handle, but I still made solid contact,” focusing “entirely on my swing” despite the game’s score [12].

The White Sox have improved to 30-27 this season, standing second in the AL Central partly due to Murakami’s contributions before his injury [1, 4]. Venable praised Murakami’s consistent hitting and said, “His swings have been outstanding… We’re not worried, but of course we’re happy to see his homerun” [4].

Murakami signed a two-year $34 million contract with Chicago in December 2025 [8]. Speaking on his injury, Murakami said, “It pains me deeply... I’ve never injured my hamstring before. I’m very disappointed... I won’t meet my original goal to avoid absence, but I will work hard to recover 100% and return stronger” [1]. Venable added the team will support him as they adjust roster moves during his absence [1].

Murakami is expected to miss four to six weeks. The White Sox will look to maintain momentum while their rookie slugger recovers.