The White Sox expect slugger Munetaka Murakami to miss up to a month with a strained right hamstring, general manager Chris Getz told the Sun-Times.
The 26-year-old rookie sensation was injured Friday while beating out a double-play relay throw to first in the third inning of a 4-3 win against the Tigers at Rate Field.
The Sox placed Murakami on the 10-day injured list.
“It looks like it’s probably going to be a four-weeker, which stinks,” Getz said. “I think it’s a light Grade 2 [strain].”
Getz was watching the game — the Sox walked it off on Miguel Vargas’ two-run homer in the 10th — while on the road for a scouting trip.
“I’ve had these games before, but not like last night,” Getz said. “A walk-off, but earlier in the game you lose your star player. So it’s like this mixed emotion of, ‘Man, we pulled that one out, but also, oh, wait, what happened earlier?’ ”
Overall, the Sox have been fortunate on the injury front, according to Getz.
“Other teams have been bitten a little bit more across the league,” he said. “We’re playing one right now that’s had a lot of injuries. The Cubs also have had a lot of injuries. We’ve kept a lot of our productive players in the lineup.
“But you figure it out. It’s like, all right, we’ll get him back. I think we’ll get him back right around [the return of catcher] Kyle Teel. Hopefully, we’ll stay afloat and keep this interesting. But there’s no real time to sulk, right? That’s not how you’ve got to go about this thing. But it’s a bummer.”
In 57 games, Murakami has 20 home runs — tied for the American League lead — 41 RBI, 44 walks and a .938 OPS.