Ideally, the Red Sox‘s long-term solution at first base is still the guy they planned to have fill the role in 2025, Triston Casas. At the beginning of May, Casas tore a ligament in his knee, ending his season and again cutting short one of the key seasons in the 25-year-old’s development. He was the team’s first-round pick in 2018, after all, and raised hopes back in 2023 when he slugged 24 homers in 132 games with the Red Sox.
But with Casas batting just .241 with 13 home runs in a 2024 season interrupted by an oblique injury, and having started this year with just a .182 average in 29 games before getting hurt, it’s fair to wonder whether the Red Sox can still count on him as the first baseman of the future.
Unless third baseman-turned-DH Rafael Devers has a change of heart, the Red Sox could be on the hunt for a more permanent fix to the first-base hole. And former general manager Jim Bowden puts them into play for what could be a pretty big name on the free-agent market.
Munetaka Murakami Has ‘Prodigious Power’
That name: Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, a versatile corner infielder who can also play some outfield and who can definitely hit.
Writes Bowden for The Athletic:
“There are reports out of Japan that Murakami is playing his final season for Yakult and planning to move to MLB in 2026. Known for his prodigious power, the left-handed hitting corner infielder/outfielder has amassed 242 homers and 671 RBIs over his eight-season foreign career. He won a Triple Crown and holds the single-season Nippon Professional Baseball record for home runs (56) among Japanese-born players, which he set in 2022. …
“Murakami profiles as a .240 to .260 type hitter in MLB with legitimate 30-home run power. Defensively, he’s below average at third base and adequate at first base. He’s also played some left field this season for the first time in his career. Teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers (if they’re OK with him at third base), Mariners, Rangers and Padres should be interested in Murakami if he becomes a free agent.”
Red Sox Long-Term Future at 1B Still Undecided
Murakami is 25 years old, and will be 26 next February, which means he will be eligible for a full free-agent contract from MLB teams, unlike the 23-year-old Roki Sasaki. Whether the Red Sox will pursue him will probably depend on how they view Casas next winter, as well as what happens with third baseman Alex Bregman, who has an opt-out after this year is on probably on track to exercise that.
That leaves a lot to be answered in the coming months.
Also worth noting: Murakami suffered an oblique injury this spring which has been affecting his start in the Japanese league. He has played only one game for Yakult’s big-league team, and went 1-for-4.
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