This article is part of our Dream11 Fantasy NPB series.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (9-4) vs Chiba Lotte Marines (9-4)
Saturday, July 4th, 4:00 AM EDT
Projected starters
RHP Takayuki Kishi (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Atsuki Taneichi (0-0, 1.38 ERA)
Game Preview
Undoubtedly, the two best teams in the Pacific League will go head to head Saturday in what is going to be a thrilling contest. Both the Golden Eagles and the Marines sit at the top of the standings with nine wins and four losses, and it's not a stretch to think they might be pacing the league during most of the calendar. The pitching matchup will face Takayuki Kishi against Atsuki Taneichi. Kishi has yet to appear in a game this season but posted a 3.56 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 86:25 K:BB in 2019 for Rakuten. Meanwhile, Taneichi has looked very good in his first two outings of the season and has posted back-to-back quality starts with a 1.38 ERA in his first two appearances in 2020.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Expected Lineup:
SS – Eigoro Mogi
3B – Daichi Suzuki
DH – Jabari Blash
2B – Hideto Asamura
LF – Hiroaki Shimauchi
RF – Stefen Romero
1B – Ginji Akaminai
C – Hikaru Ohta
CF – Ryosuke Tatsumi
Chiba Lotte Marines Expected Lineup:
CF – Shuhei Fukuda
DH – Katsuya Kakunaka
LF – Takashi Ogino
3B – Brandon Laird
RF – Leonys Martin
2B – Shogo Nakamura
C – Tatsuhiro Tamura
SS – Yudai Fujioka
1B – Seiya Inoue
Top picks:
Stefen Romero, Golden Eagles: Romero
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (9-4) vs Chiba Lotte Marines (9-4)
Saturday, July 4th, 4:00 AM EDT
Projected starters
RHP Takayuki Kishi (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Atsuki Taneichi (0-0, 1.38 ERA)
Game Preview
Undoubtedly, the two best teams in the Pacific League will go head to head Saturday in what is going to be a thrilling contest. Both the Golden Eagles and the Marines sit at the top of the standings with nine wins and four losses, and it's not a stretch to think they might be pacing the league during most of the calendar. The pitching matchup will face Takayuki Kishi against Atsuki Taneichi. Kishi has yet to appear in a game this season but posted a 3.56 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 86:25 K:BB in 2019 for Rakuten. Meanwhile, Taneichi has looked very good in his first two outings of the season and has posted back-to-back quality starts with a 1.38 ERA in his first two appearances in 2020.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Expected Lineup:
SS – Eigoro Mogi
3B – Daichi Suzuki
DH – Jabari Blash
2B – Hideto Asamura
LF – Hiroaki Shimauchi
RF – Stefen Romero
1B – Ginji Akaminai
C – Hikaru Ohta
CF – Ryosuke Tatsumi
Chiba Lotte Marines Expected Lineup:
CF – Shuhei Fukuda
DH – Katsuya Kakunaka
LF – Takashi Ogino
3B – Brandon Laird
RF – Leonys Martin
2B – Shogo Nakamura
C – Tatsuhiro Tamura
SS – Yudai Fujioka
1B – Seiya Inoue
Top picks:
Stefen Romero, Golden Eagles: Romero has a strong argument to be considered as one of the best players in the first few weeks of the 2020 NBP season. He has four homers with nine RBI, but his real value lies on his consistency. Through his first 55 plate appearances, he owns a stellar .383/.473/.809 slash line.
Hideto Asamura, Golden Eagles: Asamura might be the better hitter in the matchup and the numbers back him up. He has five home runs to go along with 18 RBI, a .360 average and a .448 on-base percentage in his first 58 plate appearances. It remains to be seen how he will fare against Taneichi, though, who has looked excellent to start the season.
Leonys Martin, Marines: Martin has three home runs and eight RBI to start this season, but he has been more than a power hitter for Chiba so far in 2020. He has also hit for .261 to go along with a strong on-base percentage of .358. Those are numbers good enough to consider him as captain.
Atsuki Taneichi, Marines: Despite the fact he hasn't earned the win in any of his first two outings, there's no question Taneichi has enjoyed a strong start to the 2020 NBP season. He is definitively the more experienced pitcher in this duel and has posted a 1.38 ERA in his first two starts.
Captaincy Options:
- Stefen Romero
- Hideto Asamura
- Leonys Martin
Dream11 Team
P – Atsuki Taneichi
C – Tatsuhiro Tamura
IF – Hideto Asamura (VC)
IF – Kei Hosoya
OF – Jabari Blash
OF – Akito Takabe
OF – Takashi Ogino
OF – Leonys Martin
OF – Stefen Romero (C)
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are of the author and is not a reflection of the actual points you might earn.