Munetaka Murakami is the next Japanese phenom who will be making his way stateside to play in the MLB. The 25-year-old slugger hit 265 career home runs in his eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, and broke the single-season home run record back in 2022, smashing 56 in 141 games.
Murakami has been on MLB teams' radar for a few seasons, but American fans got a good look at him during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The lefty is projected to get a mega-contract this offseason that may see many teams in the mix for his services.