Dream11 Fantasy NPB: Swallows at Dragons

Tokyo Yakult Swallows (17-13-4) at Chunichi Dragons (13-21-2)

Friday, July 31st, 5:00 AM EDT

Projected Starters

Dragons: LHP Yudai Ohno (0-3, 4.04 ERA)

Swallows: RHP Daiki Yoshida (0-1, 8.59 ERA)

Game Preview

The Dragons and the Swallows will collide once again Friday, and both teams are riding different runs of form at the moment. The Swallows have performed better and currently sit in second place of the Central League standings, while coming off two straight wins. On the other hand, the Dragons are dead last in the standings with just 13 wins while winning just once in their last four contests. The pitching matchup will feature two winless hurlers, as Yudai Ohno will get the ball for the Dragons and Daiki Yoshida will take the ball for the Swallows. The numbers favor Ohno, but the Swallows have the better offense so Yoshida might have a real shot of earning his first win of the season here.

Injuries

Zoilo Almonte - Out - Side

7/3 2:43 PM IST - Almonte was removed from the Dragons' active roster after suffering a side injury Thursday. Almonte hit a ball off his side in Thursday's contest, and he'll be examined Saturday to determine the severity. He'll have to spend at least 10 days off the roster as he recovers. Almonte has a .317 OBP with one home run and five RBI over his first 12 games of 2020.

Ryosuke Hirata - Out - Elbow

7/23 1:30 AM IST - The Dragons deactivated Hirata on Monday due to a right elbow injury. One of the Dragons' more reliable batsmen over the past couple of seasons, Hirata was dropped from the active roster after struggling early on in the 2020 campaign. Over 73 plate appearances, Hirata was batting just .164. Masataka Iryo is expected to take over as the Dragons' primary option in right field in Hirata's stead.

Shun Ishikawa - Out - Hand

7/22 1:24 AM IST - Ishikawa was removed from the Dragons' active roster ahead of Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Giants due to cartilage damage in his left hand. The Dragons have yet to announce a timeline for Ishikawa's potential return to the active roster. The 30-year-old corner infielder has appeared in 11 games for Chunichi in 2020, going 3-for-10 with a triple and two RBI.

Shotaro Kasahara - Out - Oblique

7/31 3:09 AM IST - Kasahara was diagnosed with a right oblique injury Saturday and has been ruled out indefinitely. Oblique injuries often carry volatile timetables, but it's probably safe to expect the left-hander to be sidelined for multiple weeks. He went 3-2 over his eight outings with the Dragons this season, posting a 5.71 ERA in 34.2 innings.

Yuhei Nakamura - Out - Undisclosed

6/20 10:09 AM IST - Nakamura was removed from the Yakult Swallows' roster Friday due to an undisclosed injury, BaseballKings reports. Nakamura didn't appear in the team's season opener, and he'll now miss time with an injury, although it's unclear how long he'll be sidelined. Nakamura appeared in 126 games last season, logging a .269 batting average with five home runs and 36 RBI. Suguru Ino was promoted in a corresponding move.

Albert Suarez - Out - Not Injury Related

7/10 5:49 AM IST - The Swallows deactivated Suarez on Wednesday, Jim Allen of JBallAllen.com reports. Though the right-hander is sitting on a microscopic 0.53 ERA through three starts, the Swallows want Suarez to hit the reset button and work on his mechanics after he walked seven batters in Tuesday's win over the Dragons. The Swallows replaced Suarez on the active roster with lefty Keiji Suzuki, but it's not expected that the 30-year-old will miss more than one turn through the rotation.

Yuya Yanagi - Out - Abdomen

7/10 5:56 AM IST - The Dragons deactivated Yanagi on Thursday due to a right abdominal strain, Yahoo Sports Japan reports. Yanagi experienced pain in his side while working out Wednesday, one day after he tossed 121 pitches and struck out 10 over seven innings of one-run ball in a no-decision versus the Swallows. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.80 with the excellent outing, but it looks like he'll now have to skip at least his next turn through the rotation and wait until the injury heals up before building on the momentum. The Dragons promoted pitcher Yu Satoh to take Yanagi's spot on the active roster.

Chunichi Dragons Expected Lineup

SP - Yudai Ohno

1. Masataka Iryo

2. Yohei Ohshima

3. Toshiki Abe

4. Dayan Viciedo

5. Nobumasa Fukuda

6. Yota Kyoda

7. Takuma Katoh

8. Naomichi Donoue

9. Yudai Ohno

Tokyo Yakult Swallows Expected Lineup

SP - Daiki Yoshida

1. Tomotaka Sakaguchi

2. Tetsuto Yamada

3. Norichika Aoki

4. Munetaka Murakami

5. Yasutaka Shiomi

6. Yuhei Takai

7. Alcides Escobar

8. Motohiro Shima

9. Daiki Yoshida

Top Picks

Norichika Aoki, Swallows: The former MLB outfielder got off to a slow start this season, but he has been seeing the ball well of late. Aoki is currently hitting .336 with a .450 on-base percentage, while adding six homers and 19 RBI.

Munetaka Murakami, Swallows: Murakami has been the Swallows' most consistent offensive threat all season long, and he enters this matchup slashing an impressive .341/.446/.561 with an OPS that currently sits above the 1.000-threshold. As if that wasn't enough, he also has five homers with 35 RBI.

Dayan Viciedo, Dragons: Viciedo should be the Dragons' main offensive threat. He has nine homers with 29 RBI while hitting an impressive .304. If the Dragons want to pull the upset, then Viciedo will have to lead the charge with his bat.

Naomichi Nishiura, Swallows: Nishiura has also been one of the best players for the Swallows in the last few weeks, and the numbers back him up. He is currently hitting for .222, but he has racked up five homers with 16 RBI.

Captaincy Options

1. Norichika Aoki
2. Munetaka Murakami
3. Dayan Viciedo

Dream11 Team

P – Daiki Yoshida

C – Ariel Martinez

IF – Dayan Viciedo

IF – Munetaka Murakami (VC)

IF – Tetsuto Yamada

IF – Naomichi Nishiura

OF – Kengo Takeda

OF – Tomotaka Sakaguchi

OF – Norichika Aoki (C)