The two-time Nippon Professional Baseball Japanese Central League Most Valuable Player is fitting right in as he begins his first spring in the big leagues after signing a two-year deal<\/a> with the Sox in the offseason<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the first full-squad workout is Sunday, Murakami already has displayed some of his prodigious power during batting practice over the past few days as one of the many position players arriving early to camp.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a really good understanding of his swing and his process,\u201d shortstop Colson Montgomery said.<\/p>\n Murakami also has been a hit off the field.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really impressive,\u201d Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield said Thursday at spring training media days in Scottsdale. \u201cThe first thing that sticks out is the personality. He\u2019s already quickly adjusted to the clubhouse, he\u2019s laughing and joking. His English is really solid too.<\/p>\n \u201cSo really excited to have him. And just on the field, he\u2019s special. He lost a lot of balls in BP. We are excited to get to know him better and watch him play. I think he\u2019s going to be pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n After spending the last eight seasons with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, with whom he hit 246 home runs, Murakami is adapting to the \u201cspan of the practices and the routines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn Japan compared to the majors here, it\u2019s a bit more short term,\u201d Murakami said. \u201cSo I have to get used to that going in. But it\u2019s more about the routine and going through each day in practices and getting used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s workout included Murakami rocketing a ball off the wall during live batting practice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s real power, whatever ballpark or whatever ball he\u2019s hitting,\u201d Barfield said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any questions about how that\u2019s going to translate. One of the knocks on him was the miss, and I think that\u2019s something we feel he\u2019s going to be able to make some adjustments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve already started to attack some things in the swing. I know (director of hitting Ryan) Fuller and (hitting coach Derek) Shomon have identified some things. Coming over, those guys don\u2019t face the same velocity on a day to day basis, so there\u2019s going to be a little bit of that adjustment period. He\u2019s a competitor, he does a lot of things really well at the plate. I expect him to make that adjustment fairly quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about transferring the power, Murakami said, \u201cIt\u2019s about going into games and seeing what I can do and can\u2019t do. It\u2019s so early in this stage to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n Murakami, 26, also is working on his defense at first base.<\/p>\n \u201cHe looks good,\u201d manager Will Venable said Saturday. \u201cHe\u2019s extremely committed to improving on defense. He\u2019s going to play mostly at first base, there\u2019ll be some third base.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very passionate about playing third base but wants to do anything that he can to help our team win and is extremely committed to improving over there.\u201d<\/p>\n Murakami said the defensive priority so far has been \u201cdoing the normal basic stuff, backhands, forehands, just getting used to it, getting all the balls so that I can make the basic plays.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the possibility of seeing some time at third, Murakami added, \u201cThird base was always obviously one of my positions to play and anything I can do to help the team win and to push my fullest potential is why I have to keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n The team bonding has included helping others learn Japanese.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, everybody is coming with Japanese to me as well,\u201d Murakami said.<\/p>\n Murakami also got a kick out of the initial misspelling of his name on the nameplate in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was completely funny,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought it was a joke. No hard feelings to the organization. It was crazy funny.\u201d<\/p>\n That went viral on social media<\/a>, as did the addition of a bidet<\/a> to the Sox clubhouse.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically what I did was told them how great the bidet is,\u201d Murakami said. \u201cIt\u2019s good for the environment too, right? Everybody uses too much toilet paper.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ctc-l-white-sox_10dbab.jpg\")
White Sox infielder Munetaka Murakami takes a swing during batting practice at spring training Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CTC-Z-SOX-SPRING_e78262.jpg\")
White Sox infielder Munetaka Murakami throws the ball during a spring training workout at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 12, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (Chris Coduto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n