A very fun and surprisingly competitive Chicago White Sox season continued Friday night with a come-from-behind win over the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field (CWS 4, DET 3 in 10 innings). In his fifth MLB game, rookie Rikuu Nishida squeeze-bunted in the tying run in the ninth thanks to a throwing error from first baseman Spencer Torkelson. An inning later, Miguel Vargas hit a walk-off homer.
“First in my career, in my life,” Vargas said about the walk-off homer (via MLB.com). “… I tried to drive in the runner and put the team in position to where we can win the game. I got lucky. I got the right pitch and put a good swing on it, and we got good results.”
It was not all good news for Chicago, however. Star slugger Munetaka Murakami exited the game with what the White Sox called right hamstring tightness after running hard to beat out a double play ball in the third inning. On Saturday, manager Will Venable announced Murakami has a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will miss 4-6 weeks. He has been placed on the 10-day injured list.
“Looks like a little hamstring strain on the initial evaluation,” Venable said after Friday’s game (via MLB.com). “He’ll get some imaging tomorrow, but probably a couple weeks. Nothing official, got to continue the evaluation, but it might be a couple weeks.”
Murakami went 0 for 2 in Friday’s game and is hitting a stout .240/.378/.560 with an AL-leading 20 home runs this season. Only Kyle Schwarber (22) has gone deep more times. Murakami has 20 homers in 246 plate appearances and the rest of Chicago’s left-handed batters have 24 homers in 987 plate appearances. His injury will leave a big lefty power void in the lineup.
The White Sox summoned infield prospect Jacob Gonzalez to replace Murakami, the team announced. Gonzalez, the No. 15 pick in the 2023 draft, is hitting .317/.419/.668 with 19 home runs in 52 Triple-A games this year. It is by far his best season. Gonzalez entered 2026 as a career .232/.310/.335 hitter with 17 home runs in 298 minor-league games.
Baseball America ranked Gonzalez as the No. 23 prospect in Chicago’s system in their May update, noting he “projects as a backup infielder with versatility to handle multiple spots.” Murakami’s production makes him close to irreplaceable, and the step down to Gonzalez could be enormous unless Gonzalez’s Triple-A breakout is for real.
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Friday’s win improved the White Sox to 30-27. It is the latest into the season they’ve had a winning record since being 81-80 on the second-to-last day in 2023. Chicago sits in the second AL wild card spot and has a three-game lead on a postseason berth. They’re three games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
Vargas, Sam Antonacci, Chase Meidroth, and Colson Montgomery give the White Sox a strong offensive foundation both this year and long-term. There’s no doubt, though, that losing Murakami for 4-6 weeks is a devastating blow to the team’s postseason hopes. Few players are as important to their team as he is.
Chicago signed Murakami, 26, to a two-year, $34 million contract in December. He hit .270/.394/.550 with 265 home runs in parts of eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. That includes 56 homers in 2022, the record for a Japanese-born player.
