This article is part of our Dream11 Fantasy NPB series.
Chiba Lotte Marines (7-1) vs Orix Buffaloes (1-7)
Sunday, June 28th, 5:00 AM EDT
Projected starters
RHP Manabu Mima (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game Preview
The Marines and the Buffaloes have had opposite seasons so far. The Marines currently sit at the top of the Pacific League with a 7-1 mark following the first eight games and have won each of their last seven contests. The Buffaloes, on the other hand, sit at the bottom with a 1-7 mark and five straight losses. On paper, the Marines are strong candidates to complete the sweep here. The pitching matchup for this contest will feature Manabu Mima for the Marines and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Buffaloes. Both are coming off a win in their opening starts of the campaign, although Yamamoto was more impressive, tossing eight scoreless innings, fanning 10 and allowing just three hits. That start led to the Buffaloes' lone win of the season.
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
Buffaloes Expected Lineup
1B – Takahiro Okada
DH – Aderlin Rodriguez
LF – Masataka Yoshida
RF – Adam Jones
3B – Keita Nakagawa
2B – Koji Ohshiro
C – Kenya Wakatsuki
SS – Ryoichi Adachi
CF – Shunta Gotoh
Top picks
Brandon Laird, Marines: Laird has averaged 30 home runs per
Chiba Lotte Marines (7-1) vs Orix Buffaloes (1-7)
Sunday, June 28th, 5:00 AM EDT
Projected starters
RHP Manabu Mima (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game Preview
The Marines and the Buffaloes have had opposite seasons so far. The Marines currently sit at the top of the Pacific League with a 7-1 mark following the first eight games and have won each of their last seven contests. The Buffaloes, on the other hand, sit at the bottom with a 1-7 mark and five straight losses. On paper, the Marines are strong candidates to complete the sweep here. The pitching matchup for this contest will feature Manabu Mima for the Marines and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Buffaloes. Both are coming off a win in their opening starts of the campaign, although Yamamoto was more impressive, tossing eight scoreless innings, fanning 10 and allowing just three hits. That start led to the Buffaloes' lone win of the season.
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
Buffaloes Expected Lineup
1B – Takahiro Okada
DH – Aderlin Rodriguez
LF – Masataka Yoshida
RF – Adam Jones
3B – Keita Nakagawa
2B – Koji Ohshiro
C – Kenya Wakatsuki
SS – Ryoichi Adachi
CF – Shunta Gotoh
Top picks
Brandon Laird, Marines: Laird has averaged 30 home runs per season over the last three years, and he's gotten off to a strong start in 2020 with four home runs over his first eight contests. He has gone 9-for-28 at the plate this season and has quickly established himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in the league.
Manabu Mima, Marines: Mima struck out nine and allowed just one run in five innings during his first start of the season. He has the possibility to deliver another strong performance considering how much the Buffaloes have struggled to begin the season.
Ryoichi Adachi, Buffaloes: Adachi has put up decent numbers to start the season, going 6-for-16 with a home run, two RBI and a stolen base for the struggling Buffaloes. He seems to be one of the team's most reliable bats.
Seiya Inoue, Marines: Inoue might hit near the bottom of the order most games, but that hasn't stopped him from doing damage. He's hitting .364 (8-for-22) and has already racked up seven RBI and one home run.
Captaincy Options
1. Brandon Laird
2. Manabu Mima
3. Ryoichi Adachi
Dream11 Team
P – Manabu Mima (VC)
C – Masato Matsui
IF – Shogo Nakamura
IF – Brandon Laird (C)
IF – Seiya Inoue
IF – Ryoichi Adachi
IF – Kenji Nishimaki
OF – Leonys Martin
OF – Yusuke Matsui
