Japanese professional baseball (NPB) “Slugger” Murakami Munetaka announced his entry into the Major League Baseball (ML) after the 2025 season.

Japanese media Nikkan Sports reported on the 2nd that Murakami announced his entry into the big league after the 2025 season. According to media, Murakami reportedly expressed his intention to enter the 토토사이트 꽁머니 ML after negotiating with his team Yakult Swallows for 600 million yen (about 5.6 billion won). “Next year is the last season to play in Japan,” Murakami said during the negotiations.

Murakami entered the professional league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 rookie draft by Yakult. Murakami, who later settled in the first division, had 36 home runs in 2019 and had 39 home runs in 2021, becoming the first home run king. In 2022, a career high season, Murakami hit .318 155 hits, 56 home runs, 134 RBIs, and 114 runs, becoming the youngest triple crown in Japanese professional baseball history. In particular, the home run record is the most home runs in a single season in Japanese professional baseball history.

However, his batting average has plummeted since last year. As NPB hitters struggled due to the impact of pitching and hitters this season, Murakami’s batting average also plummeted. Still, Murakami hit more than 30 home runs, showing off his slugging capability. While playing for the NPB for seven seasons, Murakami played in 836 games with a batting average of 0.270792 hits, 224 home runs, 600 RBIs, and 501 runs scored (OPS) of 0.945.

Murakami’s advance to the big league will be made through a posting system (closed competitive bidding). Even if he finishes the next season, he will not be eligible to become a free agent.

Murakami said, “Now that I have decided to play for Yakult next season, I am only thinking about leading the team to victory,” adding, “I want to make a performance that fans can support (to advance to the big leagues) with a smile.”