Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami has only five hits in his last 53 at-bats, with 25 strikeouts and no home runs since Aug. 19, according to an X post by Roundtable Sports' Sam Phalen. 

Despite the struggles by Murakami, though, the White Sox have seven wins and seven losses in that time frame.

Murakami had a .147 batting average, .304 on-base percentage and .343 slugging percentage with a .647 OPS, five HRs and eight runs batted in and 46 strikeouts in 102 at-bats in August. In nine September plate appearances, Murakami has one hit with no extra-base hits, a walk and four strikeouts in nine plate appearances.

The White Sox split their 28 games in August. Houston beat the White Sox two out of the last three games in a four-game series to begin September. The Astros also won game one on Monday. 

The White Sox's hitting has declined since the All-Star break. In 44 games since returning from the All-Star Break, the White Sox are hitting .228/.319/.391 with a .711 OPS, 52 HRs and 206 runs scored. The White Sox hit .241/.319/.413 with a .732 OPS, 129 HRs and 454 runs scored in 95 games during the first half.

Treading water without Munetaka Murakami

When Murakami was injured earlier in the season, the White Sox won 17 games and lost 18. The streak highlighted by Phalen began the day after Murakami hit his most recent HR on Aug. 18. As a team, the White Sox have hit 14 HR since August 19, when Murakami's HR drought began.

The White Sox have a less challenging schedule in the final three-plus weeks of the regular season. Minnesota, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and Colorado conclude the regular season for the White Sox. None of those teams are over .500 and only Cleveland and Detroit are in the top half of MLB teams in earned run average.

The White Sox are likely to play Cleveland or Houston in the playoffs. Houston is 12th in the American League in earned run average, but just held the White Sox to 10 runs in their four-game series. 

Murakami and the White Sox offense need to return to the production they had during the first half of the 2026 season.