Shoki Murakami

Shoki Murakami (村上 頌樹)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 165 lb.

• School Toyo University
• High School Chiben Gakuen High School

• Born June 25, 1998 in Minamiawaji, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shoki Murakami has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Murakami was a 5th-round pick of the Hanshin Tigers in the 2020 NPB draft, but he spent the first two seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, only pitched 2 games with the big club. He had one of the most stunning rookie year in NPB history in 2023 by breaking Etsuo Nakai's record of 31 consecutive innings without allowing any runs to open a season. He collected his first career win - a shutout without any walks - on April 22, striking out ten out 10. No other NPB player had won their first game with a walk-free shutout with 10+ K. Murakami was the Central League starter for 2023 NPB All-Star Game 1, but he allowed 4 runs in 2 innings and Roki Sasaki of the Pacific League beat him. Murakami ended up 10-6 with a 1.75 ERA, and won the Central League ERA title, .23 ahead of runner-up Katsuki Azuma. He also broke Minoru Murayama's record with 0.741 WHIP for the lowest in NPB history since the two leagues split 73 years prior. Murakami was the winner of the 2023 Central League MVP, with 85 of 306 first-place votes and 653 vote points; teammate Koji Chikamoto was next with 499 vote points. He also became the first CL player to win both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year, and he got 285 of 306 votes while the runner-up Shota Morishita only received 10. However, he lost the Best Nine award to Azuma, as he only got 73 votes while Azuma collected 217.

His fastball has topped 94 mph, and his repertoire includes a slider, curveball and changeup.