Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns is doing some scouting in Japan.
According to Japanese baseball reporter Yakyu Cosmopolitan, Stearns was in Japan on Tuesday to see slugger Munetaka Murakami.Murakami, 25, is a first baseman/third baseman for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Over the past six years in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Murakami has averaged 37 home runs a season. Stearns was in attendance on Tuesday as Murakami hit a walk-off homer in the Swallows’ win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
Murakami would need to be posted to be available to sign a Major League Baseball contract. In June, Swallows president and owner Tetsuya Hayashida said that the club is open to doing that.
“If he wishes for it, we are willing to submit a posting system application for him,” Hayashida said, via MLB.com. “Our hope is for him to succeed. He supported the team so much in such a short period and made a big contribution. He’s a player we care a lot about.”
In 2022, Murakami broke the NPB record for most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player in a single season with 56. He’s been an All-Star in each of the eight seasons of his professional career and has hit .273/.394/.543 with 246 home runs and 681 RBI over that time.
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Bridget Hyland may be reached at bhyland@njadvancemedia.com.
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AloJapan.com