Yakult Swallows Murakami Munetaka (24) of the Japanese professional baseball league is trying to advance to the Major League.
Japanese media Daily Sports said on the 2nd, “Yakurt Murakami, who won two gold medals this year, renewed his contract with an annual salary of 600 million yen (about 5.6 billion won). Next season is the last season in Japan before entering the Major League.”
Murakami is Japan’s leading home run hitter with a batting average of 270 (792 hits in 2930 at-bats), 224 homers, 600 RBIs, 501 runs, 55 steals, and OPS.945 in 836 games of the Japanese pro baseball. In 2022, he posted a batting average of 318 (155 hits in 487) with 56 homers, 134 RBIs, 114 runs, 12 steals and OPS of 1.168 in 141 games, breaking the record for the most homers by a Japanese player. He also achieved triple crown and won MVP in the league.
After his best season, Murakami signed a three-year contract extension worth 1.8 billion yen (approximately 16.9 billion won) with Yakult after the 2022 season. However, Murakami has not displayed the same performance since then. During the early days of the season, Murakami had a batting average of 256 (127 hits in 496 times at bat), 31 homers, 84 RBIs, 76 runs and five steals with an OPS of .875 in 140 games.
He suffered greatly in the early days of this season as he was directly hit by the pitching strike that hit the Japanese pro baseball again this year. However, he recovered his pace and finished 143 games with a batting average of 244 (for 122 hits in 500 times at bat), 33 homers, 86 RBIs, 82 runs, 10 steals, and OPS.851. Although his performance based on the number of pitches he posted was not impressive, he became the first in homers in the Central League and the first in RBIs. Next year is the last season of the extended contract that he signed after the end of the 2022 season.
Daily Sports said, “Murakami signed a 토토사이트 꽁머니 contract renewal negotiation at the club’s office to maintain the status quo of 600 million yen. Next season will be the last year of his three-year contract,” hinting that next year could be Murakami’s last season in Japan.
Murakami said, “We talked about what we should do to win the team because we played for another year,” adding, “I also had injuries, but I thought about how to boost the team’s power in many ways with many injured players.”
According to the current CBA, Murakami is not allowed to sign a multi-year contract with a Major League club even though he has not turned 25. As the international amateur contract rules must be followed and rookie players can only sign contracts, he is not allowed to sign a large contract. Chiba Lotte Marines ace Roki Sasaki said he would enter the Major League through a posting this winter, but Murakami has decided to stay in Japan.
“If this year’s regulation (the 25-year-old limit) is revised, I have talked with the club and decided to go for the major leagues,” Murakami said. “That’s one more year. I’ll play for Yakult for another year. I’ve already said it, but I think next season will be my last one in Japan.”
“I’m not thinking about the Major League at all right now,” Murakami said. “I can go to the Major League after the end of the next season. Anyway, as long as I have decided to play for the Yakult for another year, my goal is to play for the club and lead the team to victory. I am only thinking about making a solid performance and winning the championship,” he said, renewing his commitment to win the Japanese Series next year.
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