RADIO
Munetaka Murakami Snaps Skid With Two Homers Against Astros
Chicago White Sox corner infielder Munetaka Murakami broke out of a funk at the plate in a big way in Sunday's 12-3 blowout win over the visiting Houston Astros. Murakami went 3-for-5 at the plate with two home runs, six RBI, and three runs scored to boost his season batting average to .239 and his OPS to .921. The 26-year-old left-handed-hitting Japanese slugger was hitting .184 (7-for-38) in 11 games in July since coming off the injured list before his big performance in Sunday's series finale. He's now slashing .239/.378/.543 in his first major-league season with 22 home runs, 48 RBI, 53 runs scored, and a stolen base in 69 games across 299 plate appearances. Murakami has recorded hits in each of his last three games, so fantasy managers are hoping that he is ready to turn things around as we head into August. His power looks to be for real, and he's also walking 18.1% of the time, but he will not be a reliable source of batting average with his 32.4% strikeout rate. He has also struggled mightily against southpaws, batting .194 (14-for-72) against them with only four of his 22 homers and a 33:16 K:BB.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com
