Baseball: Yakult’s Murakami eyeing 2028 Olympic gold in Los Angeles

Yakult Swallows slugger and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Munetaka Murakami on Wednesday welcomed baseball’s return to the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.

“As a member of the team that won at the Tokyo Olympics, I’m really happy,” the 23-year-old third baseman said at the Swallows’ training facility in Toda, Saitama Prefecture.

“I’ll work hard to get picked for the (national) team and win the gold medal again,” added Murakami, also a member of the Japanese national team that won the World Baseball Classic in March this year.

Murakami in 2022 hit 56 home runs in the Central League to surpass Sa...