Where 'Japanese Babe Ruth' Munetaka Murakami's Epic HR Stat Ranks in MLB History Through 55 Games

The Chicago White Sox are in early playoff contention following three straight seasons of more than 100 losses thanks in large part to Munetaka Murakami's historic home run numbers.

The slugger, who is known as the "Japanese Babe Ruth," launched his 20th home run of the season during Wednesday's 15-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Only Cody Bellinger and Wally Berger have hit more long balls in their first 55 career MLB games:

Chicago signed Murakami to a two-year, $34 million deal this offseason in a move that looks like an absolute bargain in hindsight given the early production.

The 26-year-old was a back-to-back MVP in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan in 2021 and 2022. That 2022 campaign saw him win a Triple Crown with a .318 batting average, 56 home runs and 134 RBI.

He also broke Sadaharu Oh's single-season NPB record for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player in the process.

Moving to MLB has done nothing to quiet that power.

Murakami is tied with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros for the most home runs in the American League and is tied for second with 40 RBI behind only Jonathan Aranda of the Tampa Bay Rays.

He is slashing .240/.375/.561 with an AL-best 42 runs scored.

The White Sox have a promising young offensive core with Murakami, Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth, among others. They are 28-27 and in second place in the American League Central behind the Minnesota Twins.

They are also holding one of the three AL wild-card spots, which would mark an incredible turnaround after the last three years. And as long as Murakami continues to hit home runs at this pace, the playoffs seem like a realistic goal.