This article is part of our Dream11 Fantasy NPB series.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (29-23-3) at Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (26-26-3)
Sunday, August 23rd, 1:00 AM EDT
Projected Starters
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters: RHP Drew VerHagen (4-1, 3.72 ERA)
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles: RHP Yuya Fukui (0-2, 5.54 ERA)
Game Preview
The Fighters and the Eagles are both alive in the playoff race and, even though there are lots of games left in the regular season, winning against direct rivals in the postseason race could give either team a huge boost ahead of the second half of the campaign. Both teams are quite even, and, in that scenario, the pitching matchup could make the difference. The Fighters have a slim edge in that department, as Drew VerHagen (4-1, 3.72 ERA) has far better numbers compared to Yuya Fukui (0-2, 5.54 ERA) in a duel between two right-handed starters.
Injuries
Katsuhiko Kumon - Out - Upper Leg
7/31 1:37 AM IST - Kumon was deactivated Thursday and is expected to miss four weeks due a strained adductor muscle in his left leg, Jim Allen of JBallAllen.com reports. Kumon picked up the injury in his appearance in Wednesday's game against the Buffaloes, during which he blew a one-run lead. The lefty reliever owns a 4.97 ERA and 11:4 K:BB across 12.2 innings this season.
Nick Martinez - Day-To-Day - Finger
8/21 11:02 PM IST - Martinez was diagnosed with a bruised right ring finger after being struck by a comebacker during his start in Thursday's loss to the Eagles. Before the liner struck his
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (29-23-3) at Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (26-26-3)
Sunday, August 23rd, 1:00 AM EDT
Projected Starters
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters: RHP Drew VerHagen (4-1, 3.72 ERA)
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles: RHP Yuya Fukui (0-2, 5.54 ERA)
Game Preview
The Fighters and the Eagles are both alive in the playoff race and, even though there are lots of games left in the regular season, winning against direct rivals in the postseason race could give either team a huge boost ahead of the second half of the campaign. Both teams are quite even, and, in that scenario, the pitching matchup could make the difference. The Fighters have a slim edge in that department, as Drew VerHagen (4-1, 3.72 ERA) has far better numbers compared to Yuya Fukui (0-2, 5.54 ERA) in a duel between two right-handed starters.
Injuries
Katsuhiko Kumon - Out - Upper Leg
7/31 1:37 AM IST - Kumon was deactivated Thursday and is expected to miss four weeks due a strained adductor muscle in his left leg, Jim Allen of JBallAllen.com reports. Kumon picked up the injury in his appearance in Wednesday's game against the Buffaloes, during which he blew a one-run lead. The lefty reliever owns a 4.97 ERA and 11:4 K:BB across 12.2 innings this season.
Nick Martinez - Day-To-Day - Finger
8/21 11:02 PM IST - Martinez was diagnosed with a bruised right ring finger after being struck by a comebacker during his start in Thursday's loss to the Eagles. Before the liner struck his pitching hand, Martinez was rolling for the Fighters, as he'd tossed five scoreless innings. The injury forced him from the game, however. Given that he avoided structural damage to his finger, Martinez appears likely to take the mound when his turn in the rotation comes up again next week.
Yuki Nomura - Out - Finger
7/9 4:21 AM IST - Nomura had successful surgery Wednesday to address the broken right pinkie finger he suffered in Tuesday's loss to the Buffaloes, Full-Count.jp reports. Nomura is expected to face a three-month recovery from the procedure, effectively taking him off the radar for the remainder of his rookie season. The 20-year-old had been a lineup regular at third base for the Fighters, going 10-for-46 (.217 average) with two home runs and eight RBI through his first 13 NPB games.
Eito Tanaka - Out - Elbow
7/10 6:41 AM IST - The Fighters announced Thursday that Tanaka underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow, Full-Count.jp reports. He's expected to be sidelined for two months before starting a throwing program. The 20-year-old made his NPB debut for Nippon-Ham in September of last season, giving up two runs in a two-inning appearance. Since he'll still need to complete more rehab work once he starts up his throwing program, Tanaka's absence could extend to the three-month mark or longer. The Fighters likely aren't counting on him to hold a major role once he's healthy again.
Hiroshi Urano - Out - Chest
6/30 8:47 PM IST - Urano required an appendectomy Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined for four weeks following surgery, Yahoo Japan reports. Urano will be hospitalized through Saturday before taking the next three weeks off to rest up and recover from the emergency procedure. The 30-year-old had yet to appear in a game for the Fighters this season after going 3-1 with seven holds and a 4.98 ERA over 25 appearances in 2019.
Christian Villanueva - Out - Foot
7/31 1:32 AM IST - The Fighters deactivated Villanueva on Thursday after he fouled a ball off his left foot in Wednesday's game against the Buffaloes, Jim Allen of JBallAllen.com reports. An already rough second season in NPB has gotten even worse for Villanueva, who slashing just .186/.288/.273 over 66 plate appearances before he sustained the injury. He'll likely be in store for a reserve role with the Fighters once he's activated, presumably in the next 1-to-2 weeks.
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Expected Lineup
2. Taishi Ohta
4. Sho Nakata
5. Ryo Watanabe
8. Shingo Usami
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Expected Lineup
1. Eigoro Mogi
3. Jabari Blash
8. Hikaru Ohta
Top Picks From Each Team
Stefen Romero, Golden Eagles: Romero has been one of the top offensive threats for the Golden Eagles this season and enters this matchup with a .301/.374/.642, a 1.016 OPS, 15 home runs and 35 RBI in 198 plate appearances. Romero and Hideto Asamura form a deadly one-two punch in the Golden Eagles' lineup.
Sho Nakata, Fighters: Nakata might be hitting a meager .255 this season, but he has been supplying power numbers left and right – most of his values comes from his thunderous bat. He has 20 homers with 64 RBI in 55 games this season.
Captaincy Options
Dream11 Team
P – Drew VerHagen
C – Ryo Ishikawa
IF – Sho Nakata (VC)
IF – Eigoro Mogi
IF – Hideto Asamura
IF – Ryo Watanabe
IF – Toshitake Yokoo
OF – Haruki Nishikawa
OF – Stefen Romero (C)
