Japan’s Barry Bonds? Munetaka Murakami is coming to the MLB in 2026

Sam Navarro - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 1 day ago

While 2025 may not be over yet, the Chicago Cubs are already in offseason mode, looking ahead to how they can improve their team for the 2026 season. Shifting to 2026, one of the biggest International Stars has announced that he is setting his sights on the MLB for 2026. As is often the case, this player hails from the NPB and has compiled a remarkably impressive career in Japan so far.

According to the man himself, 26-year-old Japanese outfielder Munetaka Murakami has announced that the 2025 season will be his last in Japan, as he intends to come to the MLB in 2026. Given his age and years of service time, this falls into a similar pattern to Roki Sasaki, who is going to be one of the more highly coveted MLB free agents this season.

A little background on Murakami and what could make him valuable to the Cubs and any team. Well, for starters, he is an OF who can DH, but is a left-handed power bat. Looking at the Cubs' lineup, they don't have much left-handed power, so to add someone at such a young age with left-handed power would be huge for this organization.

A .270 career hitter, Murakami became the fastest player in NPB history to reach 200 career homers and now has 241 career home runs to go with 670 RBIs in six years of professional action. Murakami is a two-time MVP and three-time home run champion, and has been in the running for multiple Triple Crown awards.

After hitting 36 homers in his first three seasons, with 35 coming in his first two seasons, Murakami made some tweaks at the plate and has since turned his career around. He has hit at least 28 homers in each of the past five seasons, including a 56-homer, 134-RBI campaign in 2022, during which he also hit .318. Murakami also took 106 walks that season, compared to 133 strikeouts, and was considered the Barry Bonds of Japan that year.

In the two years since, Murakami has continued his business as usual and remained the best-run producer in the NPB. He followed his massive 2022 by hitting 31 homers in 2023 and 33 homers this past season. Although his run production is way down, as he hasn't topped 87 RBIs since that season, most of his homers have been solo shots, which can't be held against him.

The biggest concern over the past two seasons has been his significant decline in average, as he hit .253 in 2023 and followed that up with a .244 average last season. His strikeout numbers have also increased, as he had 180 punchouts in 2024, but he still took 105 walks, and his eye for the plate is just as good as it has been. Given that he broke out as quickly as he did, only to slump a bit the past two seasons, some would urge caution when signing him, but the bat can't be ignored.

This season was more of the same for Murakami, but there were some concerns before he arrived in the States. On the one hand, he hit .286/.392/.659 with 24 homers in just 69 games this year. That demonstrates the extent of his power and his ability to change a game quickly.

On the other hand, he played in only 69 games, dealing with various injuries throughout the season. That isn't to say he has an injury history or anything like that, but there are some concerns whenever a player is hitting free agency coming off an injury-riddled season. Still, at 26 years old and capable of playing either corner outfield spot, it's hard to overlook what he can bring to the table, especially in this lineup.

Big market team or not, the Cubs haven't acted like one for years, and barring a sudden shift from their current course, that won't be happening either. That is why adding Sasaki this offseason and potentially Murakami next season is so crucial for this team. Those additions would not only give the Cubs an ACE to build around for years, but they would also add a middle-of-the-lineup power bat for next to nothing.

How could you not want that as a front office, especially knowing that Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki will be gone within a year or two? Murakami's decision to go the free agent route, rather than the traditional posting system, is the best thing that could've happened to the Cubs, as they will be conducting extensive scouting on him this season.