Twins Host White Sox Monday: Chicago to Feel Murakami's Absence on Road Trip

The streaking Chicago White Sox have been one of the surprise teams in MLB as they enter June with a 32-27 record and only one game out of first in the winnable AL Central – where it might only take a .500 record to capture the division. A big reason for the Pale Hose's success has been Japanese rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami . But he will miss 4-6 weeks due to injury, and I believe his absence starts really being felt Monday in a series opener at the Twins .

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White Sox vs. Twins single-game parlay

- Minnesota money line - Alt Under 10 runs

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Many around MLB were surprised that the normally frugal White Sox won the offseason bidding for Murakami to come over from Japan, as he agreed to a two-year, $34 million deal in the offseason. Murakami was a back-to-back MVP in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2021-22, a four-time All-Star and won the Triple Crown in '22 when he set the NPB record with 56 homers.

The thinking was that Murakami would want to come play for a contender in the States, and the White Sox certainly weren't considered that in a full rebuild and having finished with triple-digit losses each of the past three seasons. Not a heck of a lot more was expected this season with a spring Over/Under win total of 67.5, but the team is nearly halfway there thanks to the 26-year-old Murakami.

There was some concern that his contact issues in Japan might not translate well to the USA and his power would diminish, but that has not been the case as Murakami leads the White Sox and all rookies with 20 homers, 41 RBIs, 44 walks and 43 runs scored and an OPS of .938. He has been compared for former Cubs slugger and current MLB home-run leader Kyle Schwarber and has a WAR of 1.9.

Just for a point of comparison, Juan Soto has the same WAR.  Murakami has become arguably the White Sox's best position player since shortstop Tim Anderson was in his prime from 2019-22.

"Yeah, it's tough. Obviously, he makes a massive impact on our group, on and off the field," manager Will Venable said of the injury. "He's someone that puts so much energy into his work and to other people. He's probably pretty down right now, knowing that that's going to take a different form here over the next few weeks." Venable is +350 for AL Manager of the Year at FanDuel, behind only Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash (-150).

Entering the weekend, Murakami was the +140 favorite at DraftKings to win AL Rookie of the Year, and he was my spring pick. But he's now a +370 second favorite behind Detroit shortstop Kevin McGonigle (+115) after Murakami left Friday's home win over McGonigle's Tigers with what was diagnosed as a Grade 2 hamstring strain.

He got hurt beating out a double play in the third inning. To lead the majors in homers, Murakami is now way down at +8000,  though he is tied for second, two homers behind the MLB leader in Schwarber, who is -125 to win the race.

Murakami still would have plenty of time to salvage his ROY hopes after missing 4-6 weeks but surely not the HR title. And, sadly, now he may have to miss the All-Star Home Run Derby, as the South Side Samurai would have been a nice draw.

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Since a 6-13 start to the 2026 season, the White Sox have been playing great, with a 26-14 record and a five-game winning streak. They are 16-3 in their last 19 games at home and 11-3 overall vs. AL Central foes.

Keep in mind that Chicago is yet to have No. 1 catcher Kyle Teel this season after he injured his hamstring in the World Baseball Classic. The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts the White Sox for 80.1 wins and a 47.9% shot at the playoffs. It is +270 to get there via DraftKings, which equates to 27%.

Alas, I believe reality without Murakami anchoring the lineup hits the White Sox pretty hard starting Monday as they head out on a six-game trip with a 12-16 road mark compared to 20-11 at home. And they face Twins ace Joe Ryan (3-3, 2.94 ERA) tonight.

It wouldn't shock me if Ryan was dealt by the Aug. 3 trade deadline with the Twins going nowhere in 2026 – Ryan and the team have a mutual option worth a reasonable $13 million for 2027. He would be one of the most sought-after guys on the trade market, no doubt, and has been linked especially to the Cubs and Braves .

Since lasting one-third of an inning against the Blue Jays on May 3, when an elbow injury scare forced him off the mound, Ryan is 1-0 with a 1.75 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 30.6% strikeout rate and one homer allowed in 25.2 innings spanning four starts.

He took a no-decision on the South Side last Tuesday, allowing two earned over 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts – Ryan's third straight outing with at least seven. He was pitching a shutout until Murakami hit a two-run homer in the eighth. The model projects Ryan at 5.4 innings, 5.7 strikeouts, 4.5 hits allowed and 2.0 earned runs. He's +110 at DraftKings to win.

It's the first career road start for White Sox rookie David Sandlin , acquired in the offseason from Boston (was team's No. 9 overall prospect). He was dominant this year at Triple-A Charlotte before being called up. In his big-league debut last Wednesday at home, Sandlin gave up a home run to Minnesota's Byron Buxton on his second pitch, then retired the next 18 batters he faced as the White Sox won 15-2. Those consecutive batters retired were the most by a White Sox player in their big-league debut since 1901.

The 6-foot-4 Sandlin threw just 61 pitches, averaging 97.7 mph on his four-seam fastball (peaked at 99.3), but Venable wanted to keep him as fresh as possible for start No. 2. Sandlin's average of only 10.2 pitches per inning was the fewest in a debut performance (minimum 6.0 IP) since MLB started tracking pitchers in 1988.

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I'm not too worried about the total, and obviously if it pushes at 10, it just falls off. Winds are blowing in a bit at Target Field. I'm a White Sox fan, so this is all fun to see but, yeah, I think the reality check is coming on this trip without Murakami. Ryan always pitches well against the Pale Hose.  Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/white-sox-vs-twins-monday-mlb-picks-chicago-will-really-start-to-miss-injured-rookie-star-munetaka-murakami/)._