White Sox pitcher sees Kyle Schwarber traits in Japanese teammate

Chicago White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay thinks teammate Munetaka Murakami’s MLB offensive ceiling could resemble Kyle Schwarber’s. Kay has confidence in Murakami’s elite raw power despite swing and miss issues.

Kay and Murakami are new teammates in Chicago after both signing multi-year deals in December. They faced each other in NPB last season.

Kay shared his views on Murakami during Tuesday’s episode of the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, hosted by Rob Bradford and Courtney Finnicum.

“I don’t see why he can’t be like a Kyle Schwarber who hit 30, 40, 50 homers,” Kay said (timestamp: 15:47). “His power is insane. He’s got some of the greatest power I’ve ever seen. Obviously there are questions about swing and miss, but he’ll adapt. He’s still only 25. He’ll be fine. I think his game will translate well here.”

Kyler Schwarber is the designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies. The 32-year-old slugger is known for his exceptional punching power and walk speed. Schwarber joined the Phillies on a four-year contract in 2022. He re-signed to a five-year contract on December 9.

White Sox pitcher gives scouting report on Munetaka Murakami

In the same conversation with Rob Bradford on the “Baseball is not Boring” podcast, White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay said that NPB’s opposing pitchers were actively trying to survive against Munetaka Murakami rather than challenge him. Kay admitted that he also used this tactic.

“He was in our league, so I played his team my first year there nine times, which was no fun,” Kay said (timestamp: 16:49). “He did pretty well. Luckily I was able to keep him in the ballpark every time, but yeah, he had a lot of singles and doubles against me, that’s for sure.”

Kay also broke the pitcher’s approach against Murekami. He explained why directly challenging him was not an option.

“They had a really good offensive team, so you just didn’t want him to beat you,” he added. “Obviously he’s got crazy power. We just tried to get around him as much as possible, keep guys out of the way in front of him so we didn’t have to give him anything good to hit. And luckily I was able to not be one of his victims.”

The White Sox pitcher acknowledges that Murekami hasn’t regularly faced pitches at 95 miles per hour like those in the MLB. However, he doesn’t think it will matter much. Kay pointed out Shohei Ohtani and the success of Seiya Suzuki to prove his point.