>>151788036
Cease deserves to be ahead of Framber and King. He’s got the most electric stuff of the three, and with a good organization, he could be a top-10 pitcher next year
I think the Jays will end up signing either Framber or him, but I’m not convinced they’re the organization that can take him to the next level
Murakami is also very exciting, but he's a bit of a lottery gamble
>Murakami has very special left-handed power, easily a 70 or 80 on the scouting scale, and his 56-homer peak season exemplifies what he can do when he’s accessing that power regularly. In 2023, his strikeout rate regressed up to 28.1%, near where it was when Murakami was still an improving teenager, and it’s hovered in that range for the past three seasons. That’s a pretty big, scary number for a Japanese hitter trying to transition to MLB.
>Murakami’s splits against good velocity (63% contact rate since 2022) and against secondary pitches (just above 50% in 2025) are even more concerning.