Today's Fantasy Rx

Please refer here to see the changes made to the rating system.

Thirty-nine National Leaguers earned a 1 for their performance through last week. This week, seven pitchers joined the list while three departed, leaving us at forty-three.

Pitchers who joined the list include A.J. Burnett, Andy Ashby, Tomokazu Ohka, Javier Vazquez, Mike Lincoln, Brian Lawrence, Jason Schmidt.

Pitchers who dropped off the list include Chris Nichting(HR/9), Carlos Hernandez(K:BB), and Woody Williams(HR/9).

Please refer here if you'd like to take another look at some of our methodology.

LPR Code Description
1 - K:BB of 2.0+, K/9 of 6.0+, HR/9 of 1.0-, and H/9 of 9.0- thus far in 2002
2 - K:BB of 2.0+, K/9 of 6.0+, HR/9 of 1.0-, and H/9 of 9.0- in the second half of 2001
3 - K:BB of 2.0+, K/9 of 6.0+, HR/9 of 1.0-, and H/9 of 9.0- in the first half of 2001
4 - K:BB of 2.0+, K/9 of 6.0+, HR/9 of 1.0-, and H/9 of 9.0- for all of 2000

a - DOM of 55% or more in 2002
b - DOM of 55% or more in 2001
c - DOM of 55% or more in 2000
x - DIS of 20% or less in 2002
y - DIS of 20% or less in 2001
z - DIS of 20% or less in 2000

(Note: I used the PQS logs from Baseball Forecaster to create these ratings, and I strongly recommend that you purchase a copy if you haven't already.

Here is the fifth set of 2002 in-season LPR ratings, which include all games played through June 7th. We ranked pitchers by the highest LIMA rating and then by the best PQS rating. Starting pitchers, if necessary, are ranked by their performance over their last five starts, which I include after the pitchers name in chronological order, ending with his most recent appearance.

1234
abxy - Brian Lawrence(34555)

Robb Nen

No, Brian Lawrence is not the best pitcher in the National League, but he may be the third best right now after the Arizona Aces. His PQS trend indicates that he's prepared to dominate for his next few starts, and now that he's qualified for LIMA this year, I'd be surprised if he lost the point.

123
Jason Isringhausen
Jose Mesa
Billy Wagner

!No comment.

124
bcyz - Al Leiter(43303)

I believe he's past his problems, and his continued LIMA qualification even through his struggles indicates both his early dominance and promising upcoming months.

234
abcxyz - Randy Johnson(55245)

Juan Cruz(41005)
Jeremy Fikac
Felix Rodriguez

Fikac and FRod both continue to struggle at times, and Cruz doesn't look comfortable in the bullpen. While Randy needed an extra week down here, he should join Lawrence up top no later than two weeks from now unless he encounters unexpected further difficulties.

12
abcxyz - Curt Schilling(54555)
abxyz - Javier Vazquez(54235)
abx - Roy Oswalt(54341)
by - Jason Schmidt(05045)

Mike Remlinger
Dave Weathers

Schmidt's recent surge likely leaves him unowned in only a few mixed leagues, but now might be a great time to pick up Vazquez as I expect a surge from him soon.

13
Byung-Hyun Kim
Steve Reed
Luis Vizcaino
Jay Witasick

No problems here, although we need to start trusting Kim more in Internet Challenge.

14
Trevor Hoffman
Scott Strickland
Gabe White
Scott Williamson

Another group of four solid relievers, a couple of whom might be unowned in your league. White's always a homer risk, but the others should be solid bullpen additions.

23
abcxy - Kerry Wood(44424)
by - Brad Penny(23040)

Octavio Dotel
Kyle Farnsworth
Jeff Fassero
Nick Neugebauer(42451)
Carlos Zambrano

Despite early control problems, Kerry's now pitching more consistently and certainly deserves consideration from any team seeking to add a stud starter. Zambrano might be a nice sleeper for anyone needing to rebuild; Farnsworth certainly also falls into that category.

24
z - Britt Reames(00)
Justin Speier

We grabbed Reames as a sleeper, but we hope to keep him benched until he can pitch past the fifth inning.

34
bcxyz - Greg Maddux(33335)
acyz - Kevin Brown(45420)

Jose Acevedo(51030)
Chad Fox
Dave Veres

Fox is back but already hurting, Veres still shows very little, Maddux's command remains questionable, Acevedo's in the minors, and Kevin Brown's in the hospital. Aside from potentially grabbing Fox as a saves' sleeper, don't look to add anyone here.

1
axyz - A.J. Burnett(23544)
axy - Kevin Jarvis(43444)
axy - Pedro Astacio(54235)
axz - Jeff D'Amico(55505)
bxy - Matt Morris(53023)
ax - Tomokazu Ohka(42454)
ax - Vicente Padilla(34334)
xz - Matt Clement(33555)
x - Andy Ashby(35342)

D'Amico's registered the most 5's of this group in 2002, but Clement's PQS trend looks as solid as that of the scorching hot Brian Lawrence and Ruben Quevedo. Burnett also appears to have worked through his problems, and you should again consider adding him if his owner doesn't want much in return.

Omar Daal(5524)
Mike Crudale(0)
Jason Middlebrook(00)
Brian Boehringer
Alan Embree
Eric Gagne
Darren Holmes
Mike Lincoln
T.J. Mathews
Kent Mercker
Mike Myers
Chris Nichting
Scott Sauerbeck
Scott Stewart
Mike Williams
Tim Worrell

Add Daal if available but remain somewhat cautious with Middlebrook. Stewart's starting to really look comfortable as Montreal's lefty short reliever. As always, Embree and Sauerbeck are two of the best low-risk injury replacements you could want.

2
bcxyz - Darryl Kile(22344)
bxyz - Randy Wolf(43424)
bxy - Russ Ortiz(45214)
bxy - Tony Armas, Jr.(14332)

Nelson Cruz
Jose Jimenez
Steve Kline
Kerry Ligtenberg
Vladimir Nunez
John Smoltz
Scott Sullivan

While Armas has started to slip, he's still a good long-term acquisition. Ortiz remains too inconsistent for our liking. Jimenez is putting up some very impressive stats, and he's one strikeout short of a 12 ranking right now; don't be afraid to add him if you need saves.

3
bxyz - Jon Lieber(43341)
by - Ruben Quevedo(35555)

Tim Redding(43540)

Jason Bere(41345)
Ryan Jensen(44103)
Jose Cabrera(04)
Pedro Borbon
Giovanni Carrara
Joey Eischen
Mike Matthews
Dan Plesac
Paul Quantrill

We'd much rather own Quevedo than Lieber, especially in 5x5 leagues. Redding remains a decent option despite his disaster, and Bere's finally turned his skills around now that any bad outing could send him to the bullpen.

4
xy - Ben Sheets(55232)
b - Bud Smith(3100)

Kris Benson(05002)
Doug Brocail
Vic Darensbourg
Aaron Fultz
Greg Swindell

I'm not surprised that Sheets began struggling around the time we noticed he was pitching quite well; he's a decent pick-up right now, but probably not a good one. Benson's also an extreme risk, one that we're not comfortable taking in most leagues.

a
bxy - John Thomson(43420)
xyz - Tom Glavine(34535)
cz - Glendon Rusch(34014)
x - Josh Beckett(25500)
x - Odalis Perez(53044)
I can't support Glavine as the best pitcher in the league this year - he's just gotten really lucky while not dominating hitters; anyone supporting Glavine might want to examine the difference between his 64:24 K:BB in 98.2 and Schilling's 140:10 K:BB in 95 IP. Rusch may be returning from his Green disaster to a helpful level of pitching. Lastly, Blisterman II is really annoying, especially after we started with him in DC mid-season.

b
cyz - Wade Miller(04101)
cy - Hideo Nomo(01542)
x - Terry Adams(52430)
y - Steve Trachsel(33534)

Trachsel continues to pitch quite well; he should be your target among this bunch, although we continue to spot start Nomo and Adams at least in two-start weeks.

c
xyz - Woody Williams(55423)
xyz - Ryan Dempster(55130)
xy - Robert Person(34333)
yz - Kevin Millwood(40353)
Rick Ankiel

I see no reason to doubt the future effectiveness of Williams or Millwood, and Person's come back strong from his injury. However Dempster continues to struggle; be wary of discussing a deal for him.

x
yz - Livan Hernandez(01545)
yz - Denny Neagle(45032)
yz - Shane Reynolds(34230)
yz - Elmer Dessens(33303)
y - Shawn Chacon(32344)
z - Carl Pavano(04034)
z - Rick Helling(24231)
Carlos Hernandez(53442)
Kip Wells(54342)
Dennis Stark(35224)
Miguel Batista(30425)
Josh Fogg(53042)
Bobby J. Jones(30244)
Jason Simontacchi(41423)
Joey Hamilton(50043)
Brett Tomko(32053)
Damian Moss(33430)
Kirk Rueter(12242)
Kazuhisa Ishii(33233)
Only Tomko and perhaps Fogg are relatively low-risk plays here, but Livan and Bobby Jones are both fairly hot. Simontacchi and Moss are our preferences from the rest of this list.

y
Jason Marquis(13514)
Brandon Duckworth(50230)
Brian Tollberg(32320)
Nelson Figueroa(33003)
Sean Lowe(0)
Darren Dreifort

No changes here.

z
Mike Hampton(43021)
Shawn Estes(24412)
Jamey Wright(0523)
Albie Lopez(023)
Julian Tavarez(00333)
Bruce Chen(00320)
Andy Benes(000)

#No comment here, either; I don't recommend leaving any of these pitchers active in the near future.

NL pitchers I recommend despite their failure to appear here include Antonio Alfonseca, Armando Benitez, Joe Borowski, Ricky Bottalico, Danny Graves, Jason Jennings(50353), Satoru Komiyama, Guillermo Mota, Mark Prior(5505), Chris Reistma(35103), Gene Stechschulte, Dennis Tankersley(42400), and T.J. Tucker. Please recognize that these are fairly risky or unproven players, but most aren't missing much to at least pick up a 1 rating fairly soon.

Other frequently owned pitchers who you probably shouldn't deploy right now include Jimmy Anderson(13103), Dave Coggin(02040), Mike DeJean, Mike Fetters, Matt Herges, Graeme Lloyd, Braden Looper, Kevin Olsen(03045), Jose Rijo(02401), Grant Roberts, Mike Timlin, and Ron Villone(03043).

Today's Fantasy Rx: All seven pitchers who joined or rejoined today's list look like promising pickups, but you already know about the great performances by Vazquez, Burnett, Lawrence, and even Ashby. Lincoln has continued to excel since his call-up, and now the healthy Jason Schmidt and emerging solid starter Tomo Ohka would all help teams in almost any league.