Dream11 Fantasy NPB: Marines at Golden Eagles

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:

1. Stefen Romero
2. Hideto Asamura
3. 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.