White Sox expect Murakami to miss 4-6 weeks; call up Gonzalez

White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami was diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and is expected to be sidelined for 4-6 weeks, according to manager Will Venable.

Murakami is tied for second place in MLB with 20 home runs with Houston's Yordan Alvarez, two behind Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber heading into Saturday's action.

The first baseman was placed on the 10-day injured list before Saturday's 7-1 victory over Detroit, while the Sox called up 2023 first-round pick Jacob Gonzalez and reliever Jordan Leasure (right flexor strain) was moved to the 60-day injured list.

Obviously, losing Murakami is a blow to the much-improved White Sox offense. Since April 19, the Sox have posted a 24-13 record while ranking second in MLB in OPS at .776. They moved past the Yankees on Saturday for most home runs (59) hit during that stretch, pending the evening results.

The first day without Murakami went well. The Sox led Detroit just 2-1 after six innings but pulled away late thanks to home runs by Edgar Quero, Colson Montgomery and Andrew Benintendi. Starting pitcher Anthony Kay (5-1) delivered his sixth straight outing allowing 2 earned runs or less.

“It's tough,” Venable said of losing Murakami. “Obviously, he makes a massive impact on our group, on and off the field. He's someone that puts so much energy into his work and to other people. I think he's probably pretty down right now, knowing that's going to take a different form over the next few weeks.”

The injury occurred in the third inning of Friday’s 4-3 victory. Murakami left the field after beating out a double-play grounder. The Sox eventually won on a 2-run walk-off homer by Miguel Vargas in the 10th.

Newcomer Randal Grichuk was originally slotted into Murakami's second spot in the batting order Saturday, then switched to No. 4 when Derek Hill was scratched with upper back soreness. Grichuk has been hot since joining the White Sox, hitting .333 with 4 home runs in 18 games.

Gonzalez will likely get a chance to fill in at first base against right-handed hitters. He's been absurdly hot at Triple-A Charlotte, going 7-for-8 with 2 doubles and 3 home runs in the two games just before getting called up.

Gonzalez, a native of Glendora, California, was the No. 15 overall pick of the 2023 draft out of Mississippi. His first three years in pro ball were relatively quiet, with 18 home runs over three seasons combined, then he hit 19 in less than two months this year. Saturday was also Gonzalez' 24th birthday.

Gonzalez didn't play Saturday after arriving to the ballpark roughly 90 minutes before the first pitch, thanks to an airline delay in Charlotte.

“I was supposed to leave at 7:40, I left at 9:40,” he said. “I was just hoping they weren't going to change their minds. I was going to turn my phone off and stay on the flight.”

Despite the late notice, Gonzalez said 15 family members made it to Rate Field for this game. He got the news Friday night in bits and pieces.

“(Manager Chad Pinder) was like, 'Something happened (to Murakami), so we're pulling you out just in case,'” Gonzalez said. “Then I sat there for four innings (in the dugout) and didn't know what was going on. Then Vargas hit the walk-off home run and a couple minutes later, (Pinder) called me into the office and told me, 'You're going up.'”

Regarding his improvement this season, Gonzalez said he finally found a happy medium between the hitting suggestions he was getting from the White Sox and what he feels comfortable doing at the plate.

“Before, I was trying to do stuff I wasn't comfortable with,” he said. “Now I'm doing what I want to do and doing what they've told me and blended them, so it's comfortable and it's been working.”