MLB Notebook: Munetaka Murakami is breaking records, closer chaos across the league, more

Welcome to a new column I’m doing this season, where I take a bi-weekly look around Major League Baseball to fill you in on the league-wide trends, surging teams, and top individual performances. There will be some highlight clips, some criticisms, and some personal analysis of where I think the game is at and/or going. I hope that, if you’ve had a busy week or haven’t been able to watch as many games as you’d like, this article can be a great way to keep up with what’s happening in Major League Baseball.

So, let’s stop wasting time and dive right in.

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Munetaka Murakami Setting MLB Records

During the 2025 MLB season, there was a lot of chatter about which teams were interested in Japanese star Munetaka Murakami. Back in 2022, Murakami had exploded on the international scene when he hit 56 home runs and drove in 134 runs in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a 22-year-old. Even though his 2023 and 2024 seasons were not as prodigious, he still hit 30 home runs in each of those; however, concerns emerged about his contact profile. His strikeout rate exploded to 28% in 2023 and 29.5% in 2025. His batting average fell to .256 in 2023 and then .244 in 2024. Some teams and analysts began to wonder if the 2022 season was a bit of a mirage.

With his 2025 season cut short due to injury, Muramaki didn’t have enough of a chance to prove that he was every bit the hitter we saw in 2022. Questions lingered about his ability to hit the high-end velocity that he would see in Major League Baseball, and his free agent market was not as robust as many had believed. As a result, he wound up signing a two-year, $34 million contract with the Chicago White Sox this offseason.

So far, in his first 30 MLB games, Murakami is hitting .243/.373/.592 with an MLB-leading 12 home runs to go along with a 22% barrel rate and 62% hard-hit rate. In fact, those 12 home runs give Murakami a bit of a unique record.

That record also presents a bit of the conundrum with Murakami. There is no doubting his power; however, he still has a 32.5% strikeout rate and a 72% zone contact rate that is well below the league average. He has 14 barrels on the season, but only three of them have come on pitches that were thrown 95 mph or faster. By contrast, he has seven “poorly hit” balls off of pitches 95 mph, which means, according to Statcast, balls in play that are either weakly hit or with an exaggerated launch angle that lead to an easy out.

Still, Murakami is also walking 17.5% of the time, which is the 9th-best rate among qualified hitters in baseball. When you pair that with his ability to do damage on pitches he does connect with, Murakami has also posted the 9th-best OPS in baseball. So despite his weakness as a player, the MLB debut for the 26-year-old has been tremendous. He may be a .230 hitter, but he seems like a perennial lock to hit 30 home runs, and we have seen players like that, like Kyle Schwarber, for instance, who make adjustments as their careers go on and unlock seasons with great batting averages. Any way you slice it, that profile is going to earn Murakami a big payday in two years when he’s a free agent again.

Closer Chaos Reins in April

Closers are not usually the most stable position in baseball. If they were, we wouldn’t have the term “Closer Carousel.” However, this season seems to have brought that level of chaos to another level. If we take into account injuries, benchings, and just run-of-the-mill uneven performance, there are now 19 teams that either still don’t have a closer or have a different closer from the one they went into the season counting on. That’s 63% of the league.

For starters, let’s look at the preseason projected saves leaders using ATC projections, which is an aggregate of all the projection systems, and see how those guys have fared to begin the season.

1. Edwin Diaz – Dodgers: Currently on the 15-day IL after surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He’ll be out for three months
2. Mason Miller – Padres: Just had perhaps the best run ever for any closer. Leads baseball with 10 saves and has 28 strikeouts in 14.1 innings
3. Andres Munoz, Mariners: Has a 6.55 ERA in 11 innings. Does have 5 saves and only one blown save, so maybe it’s not awful
4. Jhoan Duran – Phillies: Currently on the 15-day IL with an oblique injury. There is no set timeline for his return
5. David Bednar – Yankees: Is second in baseball with 8 saves. Has a fine 3.09 ERA on the year.
6. Cade Smith – Guardians: Has a below-average 4.15 ERA. Does have six saves but has also blown two saves, which is one behind the league leader.
7. Devin Williams – Mets: Has a 9.00 ERA in eight innings. He has struck out 15 batters, but he’s also walked six and allowed 14 hits.
8. Daniel Palencia – Cubs: Currently on the 15-day IL with a lat strain. There is no set timeline for his return.
9. Ryan Helsley – Orioles: He’s tied for 6th in baseball with six saves. Has a 2.79 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 9.2 innings
10. Aroldis Chapman – Red Sox: Has five saves this season with a 1.04 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 8.2 innings.
11. Carlos Estevez – Royals: Began the season on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury. Still has not made his season debut.
12. Jeff Hoffman – Blue Jays: Leads the league with 3 blown saves and has a 6.94 ERA in 11.2 innings. Has been removed from the closer’s role
13. Pete Fairbanks – Marlins: Has a 10.00 ERA in nine innings. Left Monday’s start after experiencing pain/discomfort in his thumb and was placed on the IL
14. Raisel Iglesias – Braves: Currently on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury. Should return soon, but there is no set date
15. Ryan Walker – Giants: Is maybe the closer, but also has been used in the 4th inning, so maybe he isn’t. Has just three of his team’s six saves.

Yikes. When you also factor in that the Rays lost their potential closer, Edwin Uceta, to a shoulder injury, the Astros lost their closer, Josh Hader, also to a shoulder injury, and the Angels already waived Jordan Romano, who started the season as their closer, that adds more chaos to the landscape. The Brewers also seemingly demoted their closer, Trevor Megill, from the closer role, while the Rangers, Twins, Rockies, and Athletics can’t seem to decide on a closer, and you have very few stable closer situations in baseball.

In fact, half of the closers in baseball with at least six saves weren’t supposed to be their team’s closer. Riley O’Brien in St. Louis had the best chance at the job, but nobody really expected Paul Sewald in Arizona to be third in baseball with seven saves, alongside Bryan Baker, who took over in Tampa Bay. Lucas Erceg has filled in for Carlos Estevez in Kansas City and snagged six saves, while Seranthony Dominguez was always likely to be the closer for the White Sox, but wasn’t expected to sniff the league lead in saves.

Perhaps May will bring us some stability, or, more likely, even more chaos.

A surprising Padres starter and two early bat speed gainers are recommended grabs this week.

Surprising Manager Firings in the Season’s First Month

Speaking of chaos, we rarely get two manager firings in the first month of the season, but it’s even more rare that those managers come from teams that both made the postseason the year before. Yet, within four days, both Alex Cora of the Red Sox and Rob Thomson of the Phillies were let go by their teams.

Cora was fired on Saturday, in addition to five members of the coaching staff: hitting coach Peter Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, and major-league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Considering the Red Sox won 17-1 that day, it’s clear the move had been decided on beforehand, when the Red Sox were 9-17 with the second-worst record in the American League.

During his tenure in Boston, Cora posted a .534 winning percentage with the Red Sox and won a World Series in 2018. However, his tenure was not without its hiccups. In 2020, he was suspended for the entire season for his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. The Red Sox have made the playoffs only twice since winning the 2018 World Series, and after their 2021 playoff appearance, they had three straight losing seasons before finishing 89-73 and making the playoffs last year. They lost in the Wild Card Round to the Yankees.

Yet, not all of that can be placed on Cora’s shoulders. Their playoff drought seemed to coincide with the organization scaling back its payroll compared to other “big-market teams.” While it was thought that the Red Sox were just waiting for their core of young prospects like Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Ceddanne Rafaela to reach the big leagues to spend, the financial restrictions seemed to carry over to this season as well.

Still, Cora signed a new three-year deal in 2025, and he seemed to be in Boston long-term before things soured this season. Cora’s managing also took a step back this season. He seemed to pull the wrong levers with his bullpen moves, and his team was making plenty of bad mental mistakes. Perhaps his struggle behind the scenes with the president of baseball operations, Craig Breslow, and the rest of the front office had just reached a point where it was too much for everybody to continue to endure.

The situation in Philadelphia was not that different.

Thomson’s .568 winning percentage in five years with the Phillies is the best mark of any of the team’s managers since the 19th century, and the second-best of any manager they’ve ever had. He was only the fourth manager in MLB history to reach the postseason in each of his first four full seasons as a manager, and he is one of only three Phillies managers to win division titles in consecutive seasons.

Still, the Phillies have “championship or bust” expectations like the Red Sox supposedly do, and the team entered Tuesday with a 9-19 record that was tied with the Mets for the worst record in baseball. Perhaps more importantly, they have just been unable to win in the postseason despite strong regular-season performances.

Thomson took the Phillies to the World Series in 2022, but the team then lost in the NLCS in 2023, the Division Series in 2024, and the Division Series in 2025. Overall, they lost eight of their last 10 postseason games.

Still, the Phillies made the decision this offseason to extend Thomson’s contract through 2027. They also re-signed the entire coaching staff to contracts that would keep all of them in Philadelphia through 2027, so the move was a bit surprising.

Which brings us to the last point that we have to acknowledge, which is the tie that binds these two teams. Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, was also in that same role for the Red Sox back in 2018 when the team won the World Series with Alex Cora as his manager. Dombrowski was fired in September of 2019, and all three of Craig Breslow’s predecessors were each fired within their first four years as leaders of baseball operations. That means both Dombrowki and Breslow will be under the microscope as the potential next man to go.

For his part, Dombrowski apparently already reached out to Cora to join him in Philadelphia, but considering Cora will still get paid his full $21.75 million deal even if he doesn’t coach, it’s not a surprise that the former Red Sox manager decided to pass. For now.

More Top Prospects Are Here

In one of my earlier editions of this article, I talked about the hot starts from Chase DeLauter, Sal Stewart, Carter Jensen, Moises Ballesteros, and Kevin McGonigle, plus the debut of JJ Wetherholt, who has been heating up at the plate of late. On the pitching side, we’ve also seen great stuff so far from Parker Messick and Nolan McLean. But now we have a slew of other rookies who have been called up since then to join the mix, including MLB’s top prospect, Konnor Griffin of the Pirates.

On Tuesday, the Guardians also called up Travis Bazzana, the 16th-ranked prospect in baseball, and the Red Sox last week recalled Payton Tolle, the left-handed pitcher who is the 15th-ranked prospect in baseball. Before that, the White Sox called up left-hander Noah Schultz, who is the 43rd-ranked prospect in baseball, the Braves called up JR Ritchie, who is the 79th-ranked prospect in baseball, and the Twins called up left-hander Connor Prielipp, who is their 5th-ranked prospect and 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

If you add those names to a list that includes players who have already debuted but still have their rookie eligibility then you have Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage, the 9th-ranked prospect in baseball, Mets outfielder Carson Benge, the 13th-ranked prospect, Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter, the 23rd-ranked prospect in baseball, Phillies outfielder Justin Crawford, the 47th-ranked prospect in baseball, Pirates left-hander Hunter Barco, the 84th-rankes proepect Braves right-hander Didier Fuentes, the 91st-ranked prospect, and Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson, the 99th-ranked prospect.

That means, of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, 15 of them have already played in an MLB game this season. That doesn’t include guys like Stewart, Jensen, Ballesteros, McLean, and Messick, who are all among the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year in their respective leagues but have lost their prospect status. Major League Baseball is filling up with young stars right before our eyes.

Team Trends

The Reds currently lead the NL Central with a 19-10 record, but it doesn’t seem sustainable. Their pitching staff currently has the third-worst strikeout rate in baseball, and many of their offensive players are underperforming. The Pythagorean Standings, which use current stats to look back at the amount of “deserved” wins a team has, say the Reds should be 15-14, and the +4 wins the Reds actually have is the biggest gap between actual and “deserved” wins in baseball.

On the other side, the Angels lead baseball with three fewer wins than they “deserve.” Their record would still be 15-16, but it’s interesting to note, since the Angels are surprisingly 7th in baseball in runs scored. A few other teams have been surprisingly potent on offense, with Washington currently sitting 4th in runs and the Twins at 8th. The Angels are also 7th in OPS, while Washington is 10th.

Of course, Washington’s pitching has been a disaster. They have the second-worst ERA in baseball, the largest hard-hit rate allowed, and the worst strikeout numbers of any staff. Surprisingly, the Houston Astros actually have the worst ERA in baseball. I guess that’s not really much of a surprise given that Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier are hurt, and Framber Valdez is now on the Tigers.

Individual Player Spotlights

Starting Pitcher Spotlight: Parker Messick, Cleveland Guardians

There was a time in spring training when it seemed like Parker Messick might not make the Guardians rotation. Despite posting a 2.72 ERA in seven starts for the Guardians at the end of last season, Messick was a rookie with minor league options, and the Guardians had more established veterans who could take that spot. Yet, he continued to go about his business and pitch with tremendous poise all spring until manager Stephen Vogt had no choice but to keep him on the Opening Day roster.

Despite being just 25 years old and 13 starts into his MLB career, Messick is thriving. He’s 5th among qualified starters in ERA, 7th in WHIP, 2nd in hard-hit rate allowed, and 17th in strikeout rate. That’s put him in some pretty good company.

What’s funny is how different he and Skenes are. Messick’s fastball sits just 93.5 mph from the left side, with league-average extension and slightly above-average vertical movement. Yet, he commands it really well, keeping it up in the zone where it can miss more bats and barrels, and help set up an elite changeup that he buries low in the zone. So far this season, his changeup has an absurd 30.3% swinging strike rate and has a 92nd-percentile PutAway Rate to righties. Yet, Messick also isn’t resting on his early success. This season, he added a cutter that he’s using almost exclusively to righties. He throws it 78% of the time early in counts, trying to keep it up and in to righties on their hands. It’s another pitch that has set up the diving changeup really well and led to a huge bump in strikeout rate for Messick.

He may not have the prospect shine of somebody like Skenes, but Messick is proving himself to be every bit the up-and-coming star.

Relief Pitcher Spotlight: Riley O’Brien, St. Louis Cardinals

What has emerged from the closer chaos I mentioned above is a slew of under-the-radar relievers who are posted near the top of league leaderboards. There may not be a more surprising name than Riley O’Brien. The Cardinals’ closer is tied for third in baseball with seven saves while also posting a 1.26 ERA and nearly 28% K-BB% in 14.1 innings to start the season. That’s not a reality many expected for the 31-year-old.

O’Brien was not a big-time prospect. The Rays took him in the 8th round of the 2017 draft out of the University of Idaho as a starting pitcher. He pitched well for the Rays in his first two minor league seasons in 2018 and 2019, making 20 starts in 45 appearances, but then missed the entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the minor league season. When minor league baseball started up again, the Rays traded O’Brien to the Reds, where he struggled. He posted a 4.55 ERA in 112.2 innings for the Reds as a starting pitching prospect. Still, he made his MLB debut in 2021 but allowed two runs and three walks in 1.1 innings. Early in April of 2022, he was designated for assignment so that the Reds could add Nick Lodolo to their 40-man roster.

The Mariners then swooped in and worked out a trade for O’Brien and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma, where he pitched primarily out of the bullpen for the first time in his career. He seemed to thrive in that role, posting a 2.29 ERA with 86 strikeouts and 15 saves in 55 innings. Yet, still, the Mariners decided to trade him that offseason to the Cardinals, who finally gave O’Brien a shot in a big league bullpen during the 2024 season. Sadly, in the first week of the season, he suffered a flexor strain and was put on the 60-day injured list. He would wind up making just eight subpar appearances that season. He started the 2025 season in Triple-A, again, but was dominant in 19 innings of work and finally got another shot with the big league team. This time, he made the most of it, posting a 2.06 ERA with 45 strikeouts and six saves in 48 innings for the Cardinals last season.

Despite all of that, nobody knew what to expect from him in 2026. He had only one good season of MLB experience under his belt and had really only been a reliever for three years. Could he be trusted to close games? So far, he has left little doubt that he’s up to the task.

Hitter Spotlight: Kevin McGonigle – SS/3B, Detroit Tigers

We talked a little bit about McGonigle above, but I felt it was important to highlight just how good the 21-year-old has been to start the season. So far, he is slashing .327/.417/.518 in 127 plate appearances with 22 runs scored, 12 RBI, two home runs, and two steals. He also has 16 walks and 16 strikeouts, which is impressive plate discipline for somebody so young. In fact, most of the ways McGonigle stacks up to the rest of the league are incredibly impressive, given his age and the fact that he had only 46 games at Double-A before making the Opening Day roster.

Entering Wednesday’s game, McGonigle ranks 5th among qualified hitters in doubles, 5th in batting average, 5th in Offensive WAR, 7th in wRC+, 8th in on-base percentage, 10th among position players in WAR, tied for 10th in runs scored, 11th in hits, and 14th in OPS. That puts him on the level of some of the best young players to have ever played the game.

Individual Stat Leaders (4/1 – 4/28)

Hits

1. Drake Baldwin – C, Braves: 32 hits (.308 batting average)
2. Nico Hoerner -2B, Cubs: 32 hits (.302 batting average)
3. Otto Lopez -SS, Marlins: 32 hits (.333 batting average)
4. Ozzie Albies – 2B, Braves: 31 hits (.316 batting average)
5. Yordan Alvarez – DH, Astros: 31 hits (.348 batting average)

Home Runs

1. Ben Rice – C/1B, Yankees: 10 home runs
2. Aaron Judge – OF, Yankees: 10 home runs
3. James Wood – OF, Nationals: 9 home runs
4. Munetaka Murakami – 1B, CWS: 9 home runs
5. Seven players tied with 8 home runs

Steals

1. Jose Caballero – SS, Yankees: 11 steals
2. Oneil Cruz – OF, Pirates: 10 steals
3. Nasim Nunez – 2B, Nationals: 10 steals
4. Jakob Marsee – OF, Marlins: 9 steals
5. Jose Ramirez – 3B, Guardians: 9 steals
6. Bobby Witt – SS, Royals: 9 steals

Strikeouts (K-BB%)

1. Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers: 26.8% K-BB%
2. Will Warren, Yankees: 26.4% K-BB%
3. Nolan McLean, Mets: 25.7% K-BB%
4. Drew Rasmussen, Rays: 25.6% K-BB%
5. Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers: 25.6% K-BB%

Saves

1. Mason Miller, Padres: 9 saves
2. Bryan Baker, Rays: 7 saves
3. Seranthony Dominguez: 7 saves
4. David Bednar, Yankees: 7 saves
5. Riley O’Brien, Cardinals: 6 saves
6. Lucas Erceg, Royals: 6 saves