Where Eagles Dare A Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Fansite

2010 Season Preview, Part 2

My 2010 Season Preview has been broken down into five parts:

1. Who's Staying/Who's Out/Who's In
2. My Batting Lineup
3. Pitching Rotation
4. Bullpen
5. Biggest Questions for the Season

Today I'll look at my fictional lineup, and attempt to justify my choices.

If I ever decided to leave my cushy job (by cushy, I mean free green tea) and take up a managerial position with the Eagles, here's how my lineup might look.  First, the batting order and fielding positions.

My Lineup Card

1. Naoto Watanabe (SS): Led the team last season in steals (26), and also has a decent OBP (.360) given his batting average (.276).  If he can continue to improve at the plate he's got a shot at being an above average player in the 1/2 spot.  Watanabe is only 29, so there's still room for improvement. Needs to cut down on strikeouts however.  He's also strong defensively, with good range and a strong, accurate arm.
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2. Teppei (CF): I know, I know, he's being groomed for service in right field, but for the next few minutes I'm running the show around here.  Free beer for everybody!  Teppei had a breakout season in 2009, leading the Pacific League in batting average (.327) and triples (13).  He also showed a little pop in his bat with 12 home runs.  If he can come anywhere close to duplicating those numbers he'll be at his first All-Star game this summer.
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3. Todd Linden (LF): Despite joining the team halfway through the season and having to adapt to the NPB on the fly, Linden ended the season very strong with some good numbers (.292 BA, 12 HR, 37 RBI, 47 R, 32 BB, .862 OPS).  He also managed to be productive despite being bounced around the batting order like a superball, hitting anywhere from leadoff to the eight spot.  I'd like to see him in the 3 spot myself; giving the switch-hitter some protection in the lineup will give him some better pitches to swing at.
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4. Takeshi Yamasaki (DH): The old veteran gets the nod at cleanup, despite me lambasting him at the end of last year.  Second in the PL in home runs (39) and runs batted in (107), but had a frightening slump to end 2009.  All fingers are crossed in hopes that it was just an aberration and not foreshadowing of things to come.  With the 1-3 spots filled with solid hitters, Yama-chan should have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs.
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5. Andy Phillips (1B): Taking Fernando Seguignol's #5 is one of Marty Brown's players from the Hiroshima Carp.  While he may be an unknown commodity to most Eagles fans, he must have left a good enough impression on Brown to bring him along up north to Sendai.  He was an RBI machine down in Hiroshima (50 in 74 games), and if he can bump up his batting average a little he should provide some nice punch from the 5 spot.
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6. Daisuke Kusano (3B): The 33-year-old had a breakout year in 2009, highlighted by an All-Star appearance.  After replacing the big (albeit fading) name Norihiro Nakamura at third base, Kusano went on a tear, hitting over .4oo for almost two months.  He eventually fell back to earth, ending up with a .305 average and career highs in hits, RBI, and runs scored.  If he can keep his swagger he should be able to duplicate those numbers.
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7. Yosuke Takasu (2B): Takasu has been a solid hitter in his five years with the team, but often gets pulled (or benched) due to his apparent sub-par fielding skills.  Maybe Nomura thought he didn't have enough range at second base, but he only committed one error last season, a chopper that just squirted through his arm.  Doesn't have blinding speed, but is positionally sound.  After hitting .304 last year, I think it's high time that he gets a shot at second full-time.
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8. Ryuji Miyade (RF): Although it would appear that Ryo Hijirisawa will be Marty Brown's opening day center-fielder, I'm keeping Teppei at that position and sticking Miyade in right.  Why?  For starters, Hijirisawa is only entering his 3rd season and is still developing physically and mentally.  Miyade is a proven veteran, having spent 10 seasons in the Yakult Swallows organization before joining the Eagles last year.  Miyade hit .303  compared to a paltry .220 by Hijirisawa.  The young (24) Hijirisawa has got speed to burn however, and can always be brought in as a pinch runner or defensive replacement later in a game.
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9. Motohiro Shima (C): I'm kind of at a loss when it comes to the 25-year-old Shima.  Not about him personally, but how he was handled by ex-manager (and ex-catcher) Katsuya Nomura.  Nomura had started the light-hitting Shima in the majority of the early and mid-season games, but when the stretch drive arrived he was suddenly riding the pine in favour of older catchers.  The problem is that Shima was finally starting to hit the ball well when he got benched.  Defensively he's just as good as any other options Rakuten has at this position also.  If he can continue to improve at the plate as he did late last year he will be the consensus number one catcher on the team.

Well, that turned out to be a little longer than I expected!  Let's take a break here, and I'll get around to the pitching staff by Sunday or Monday.  Feel free to drop a comment below and give your opinions on my lineup card.

Player photos © www.rakuteneagles.jp

Related posts:

1. 2010 Season Preview, Part 1
2. 2010 Season Preview, Part 4
3. 2010 Season Preview, Part 3
4. 2010 Season Preview, Part 5
5. Hiromichi Fujiwara Out For The Season

About Andrew

Andrew has lived in Japan since 2006, spending time exploring the Tohoku region. He frequently attends Rakuten Eagles games in Sendai. You'll find him sitting along the 3rd base line drinking Guinness wearing a #46 Teppei jersey, next to a Japanese girl in a #5 Seguignol jersey.          You can follow him on Twitter if that makes you happy.