CHICAGO — Munetaka Murakami felt his swing was in a “pretty good” spot.
“It’s still early in the season, so I still have to keep adjusting to the pitchers,” the slugger said through an interpreter Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field in Phoenix. “Right now, I’m swinging really well.”
Murakami homered for the sixth time in seven games Friday in a 5-4 victory against the Washington Nationals at Rate Field. The first baseman entered Saturday tied with the Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez for the major-league lead with 11 home runs.
“To be honest, I’m not really looking into one particular stat,” Murakami said Wednesday. “It’s more focused with the ability to swing my swing and concentrate on the swing itself. If the stats do come up as all good, that will be wonderful.”
The Nationals kept Murakami in the yard Saturday. He went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts while the Sox lost to the Nationals 6-3 in 10 innings in front of 35,174 at Rate Field.
Murakami didn’t add to what has been an impressive list of to start the season.
With the 11 home runs, Murakami tied Paul Konerko (2010) for the most by a Sox hitter in franchise history during March/April. And it’s the most home runs in March/April by a rookie in major league history.
Murakami is just the fifth major leaguer since at least 1900 to record 11 home runs in their first 26 games, joining Aristedes Aquino (12, 2018-19), Rhys Hoskins (12, 2017), Gary Sanchez (11, 2015-16) and George Scott (11, 1966).
“I think the thing about Mune is he’s extremely consistent in his approach and the energy that he brings every day,” manager Will Venable said Thursday in Phoenix. “And so even when he wasn’t hitting home runs five days in a row, he was coming to the ballpark with great energy and being a good teammate and working hard.”
It’s an approach his teammates have noticed since Murakami arrived after spending the last eight seasons with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, with whom he hit 246 home runs.
“He has been that guy since Day 1,” third baseman Miguel Vargas said Wednesday. “He works every day and does everything he has to get done. He goes out there and gets the results, he deserves it.
“When you have this type of guy, you can learn. The type of unique guys. And for me, I just try to observe as much as I can from him and learn. And hopefully I learn how to hit the ball like that.”
Murakami has a .242/.381/.589 slash line with 20 RBIs, 39 strikeouts, 22 walks and 20 runs in 27 games. His 173 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) entering Saturday was the third-best in baseball behind Alvarez (231) and Ben Rice of the New York Yankees (219).
“It’s all about giving that best performance I can put out that day,” Murakami said. “That’s what I really focused on.”
Murakami’s accomplishments also include tying the Sox record with home runs in five consecutive games from April 17-22 against the Athletics and Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It’s so fun watching him do that,” Vargas said. “For me, especially having him in the clubhouse, how great he’s done his work, how professional he is. It’s not a surprise to see that. But it’s also unbelievable to watch.”
Murakami enjoyed having his streak take place alongside a stretch of home runs in four straight games from Colson Montgomery and three consecutive from Vargas.
“I really do agree that (hitting is) contagious,” Murakami said. “And for me, I’m really happy that maybe I am getting the effect from the other players as much as I’m giving to the other players as well. For the lineup to be really successful, it’s giving me the power to hit more and more at a better result.”
Murakami is adjusting well to adjustments from pitchers.
“Early on, there was a lot of fastballs that we saw, we saw some spin from the lefties that might have given him some trouble early,” Venable said Saturday. “He’s just making adjustments and seems to be covering them all. He’s making it challenging for them.