Munetaka Murakami has taken to the big leagues much quicker than anyone could have imagined, swatting 24 bombs with a .236/.370/.525 slash line through 79 games. While this is obviously an impressive stat line, it's impressive as all get-out for a rookie, especially when you consider he needs to adapt to an entire new country. Speaking of guys who have adapted to a new country, let's take a quick look at Murakami's first 79 games in the big leagues, compared to some other guys from Japan.

Here's the cream of the crop: all the Japanese fellows who had an OPS+ over 115 through their first 79 games in Major League Baseball. It's crazy to see that Murakami is ahead of Ohtani, Ichiro, and Hideki Matsui, to name a few notable guys there. Obviously these gents have had much longer careers, and the jury is still out on whether Murakami will remain at the top. Really, it's just intriguing to see how quickly Murakami is developing in regards to his closest historical comparisons, given their massive individual stardoms.

The White Sox are looking mighty wise for snatching Murakami up for 2 years, 34MM. His performance is a big reason why they are doing so well this season, and along with Okamoto's strong start for the Blue Jays, will help continue to build the reputation that the NPB graciously shadows as an AAAA+ league for MLB.