Today's Fantasy Rx

Please refer here to see the last set of changes made to the rating system.

Fifty National Leaguers earned a 1 for their performance through a week ago. Blaine Neal, Jayson Durocher, Britt Reames, Jason Middlebrook, and Brian Boehringer joined the list this week while Matt Mantei(K:BB), Todd Jones(HR/9), Paul Quantrill(H/9), Guillermo Mota(K:BB), Paul Shuey(K:BB), Mike Williams(K:BB), and Tim Worrell(K:BB) departed, leaving us with forty-eight pitchers displaying solid skills.

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 nineteenth and final set of 2002 in-season NL LPR ratings, which include all games played through September 19th. 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
abcxyz - Randy Johnson(35455)

Robb Nen

123
abcxy - Kerry Wood(35443)

Octavio Dotel
Jason Isringhausen
Billy Wagner

124
abcxyz - Al Leiter(50355)
z - Britt Reames(05503)

I didn't expect to see Britt Reames up here any time soon, but he's looked very impressive in relief since his recall. If the Expos cut payroll, he could be an intriguing target as a starter.

134
Paul Shuey's problems leave this level vacant.

234
abxy - Brian Lawrence(34433)

Juan Cruz(41005)
Jeremy Fikac
Felix Rodriguez
Tim Spooneybarger

12
abcxyz- Curt Schilling(44455)
abxyz - Randy Wolf(45455)
abxy - Jason Schmidt(54553)
abx - Roy Oswalt(53545)

Vladimir Nunez
Mike Remlinger
John Smoltz

13
Joey Eischen
Byung-Hyun Kim
Steve Reed
Luis Vizcaino
Jay Witasick

LA suffered this past week, losing Shuey, Quantrill, and Mota from LIMA qualification. However since we'd rather see Bonds get another shot in the playoffs, and we only own one of these players in one league, we're not too upset.

14
Trevor Hoffman
Scott Strickland
Gabe White
Scott Williamson

23
by - Brad Penny(31540)

Carlos Zambrano(43405)
Nick Neugebauer(51002)
Kyle Farnsworth
Jeff Fassero
Josias Manzanillo
Jose Mesa

24
bcxyz - Bartolo Colon(53531)

The most underrated pitcher in the majors continues his quest for Cy Young votes in both leagues. Unfortunately the three-spot Cy ballot likely will limit him to one or two third place votes in the NL at best.

Justin Speier

34
bcxyz - Greg Maddux(35104)
cyz - Kevin Brown(54203)

Jose Acevedo(51030)
Chad Fox
Mike Holtz
Paul Shuey
Dave Veres

1
acxyz - Woody Williams(40544)
acxyz - Kevin Millwood(43432)
axyz - A.J. Burnett(55355)
bcyz - Wade Miller(55445)
axz - Chuck Finley(55043)
bxy - Matt Morris(35230)
ax - Odalis Perez(45235)
xz - Matt Clement(55035)

Jason Middlebrook(0045)
Mike Crudale(0)
Brian Boehringer
Joe Borowski
Jayson Durocher
Eric Gagne
Mark Guthrie
Chris Hammond
Darren Holmes
Ray King
Mike Koplove
Blaine Neal
Scott Sauerbeck
Scott Stewart
Brandon Villafuerte

Several players exchanged spots on this level as Durocher and Neal regain their ranking. Middlebrook joins this group as a likely member of the 2003 Mets' rotation and a fantastic keeper in most leagues. Aside from Gagne and Stewart, Neal probably has the best shot at saves next year.

2

IN MEMORIAM: bcxyz - Darryl Kile(43004)

abxyz - Javier Vazquez(12355)
bxy - Russ Ortiz(53533)
by - Tony Armas, Jr.(0454)

Armas is starting to rebound and might finally establish himself as a reliable performer next season.

Nelson Cruz(05040)
Jose Jimenez
Steve Kline
Kerry Ligtenberg
Vladimir Nunez
Scott Sullivan
Dave Weathers

3
bxyz - Jon Lieber(44325)
by - Ruben Quevedo(14002)

Jason Bere(55500)
Tim Redding(04320)
Jose Cabrera(23033)
Ryan Jensen(33000)
Pedro Borbon
Giovanni Carrara
Mike Matthews
Dan Plesac
Paul Quantrill

4
b - Bud Smith(02040)
y - Ben Sheets(54444)

Kris Benson(44141)
Doug Brocail
Vic Darensbourg
John Franco
Aaron Fultz
Greg Swindell

a
bcxy - Hideo Nomo(55443)
xy - Pedro Astacio(14400)
x - Mark Prior(55505)
y - Kevin Jarvis(44400)
Jake Peavy(55502)

b
y - Steve Trachsel(44305)
y - John Thomson(04510)
Terry Adams(33001)

c
xyz - Ryan Dempster(40252)
xz - Glendon Rusch(54343)
xz - Robert Person(33320)
Rick Ankiel

x
yz - Tom Glavine(42424)
yz - Livan Hernandez(24520)
y - Nelson Figueroa(03222)
z - Jamey Wright(34330)
Jimmy Haynes(54235)
Joa Roa(44343)
Oliver Perez(44430)
Josh Fogg(40424)
Tomo Ohka(53035)
Kip Wells(25152)
Aaron Cook(23540)
Brian Meadows(34034)
Kirk Rueter(34402)
Brett Tomko(04430)
Kazuhisa Ishii(43040)
Alan Benes(33053)
Miguel Batista(40333)
Vicente Padilla(43132)
Damian Moss(23403)
Bobby J. Jones(43230)
Masato Yoshii(42202)
Andy Ashby(32020)

Benes, Cook, Fogg, Meadows, and Rueter join this level while Oliver Perez and Roa settle here after losing their a rankings and Daal drops off completely. I'm willing to deploy any healthy pitcher on this list, although Perez, Fogg, and Padilla have the most long-term potential.

y
z - Elmer Dessens(14342)
z - Denny Neagle(45310)
z - Shane Reynolds(42300)
Brandon Duckworth(00530)
Shawn Chacon(40032)
Jason Marquis(40200)
Brian Tollberg(32320)
Sean Lowe(0)
Darren Dreifort

z
Carl Pavano(04345)
Julian Tavarez(43114)
Rick Helling(40143)
Mike Hampton(34132)
Andy Benes(23413)
Shawn Estes(24100)
Jeff D'Amico(22301)
Albie Lopez(0230)
Bruce Chen(03200)
Manny Aybar

Run Pavano, Helling, and potentially Andy Benes, but I wouldn't even trust Tavarez given his poor skills all year. Chen could emerge as an interesting starting candidate in the spring, although I wouldn't waste a keeper spot on him in anything other than deep leagues if you can roster him at a dollar.

NL pitchers I recommend despite their failure to appear here include Kurt Ainsworth(2404), Armando Benitez, Clay Condrey(35), Rheal Cormier, Will Cunnane, Tim Drew, Mike Fetters, Tom Gordon, Matt Herges, Carlos Hernandez(50431), Trey Hodges, Luke Hudson, Todd Jones, Graeme Lloyd, Braden Looper, Matt Mantei, John Patterson(550), Al Reyes, Kirk Saarloos(54201), Carlos Silva, Jason Simontacchi(32425), Ricky Stone, Mike Williams, and Tim Worrell. 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 pitchers who you probably shouldn't deploy right now include Antonio Alfonseca, Brian Anderson(14430), Jimmy Anderson(22320), Bronson Arroyo(0243), Mike Bacsik(23102), Josh Beckett(03000), Joe Beimel(30522), Kevin Beirne(20), Mike Bynum(343), Mike DeJean, Ben Diggins(052), Adam Eaton(0035), Wayne Franklin(24), Danny Graves(03), Kevin Gryboski, Luther Hackman(03004), Joey Hamilton(34020), Jason Jennings(04122), Eric Junge(3), Sun-Woo Kim(302), Dave Mlicki(30300), Brian Moehler(44000), Pete Munro(24104), Brett Myers(22140), Chris Reitsma(03030), John Riedling, Jeriome Robertson(0), Nate Robertson(0), Dan Smith, Steve Smyth(50000), Garrett Stephenson(33000), Dennis Tankersley(40001), Michael Tejera(44010), Mike Timlin, Salmon Torres(403), Ron Villone(03043), and Justin Wayne(033).

Today's Fantasy Rx: Today's article is the last time you'll see the current LPR rankings. We're working on a revamp of the ratings by analyzing each statistic separately, and we'll wait to present the official final 2002 ratings until we've updated our database to reflect the changes. The only aspect we know we'll retain is the alphanumerical code, using numbers to indicate pitchers who've achieved certain skill ratios and letters for starters that demonstrate consistency. I expect to begin discussing LPR a couple days after the season ends, so please send me any ideas, suggestions, or questions regarding our LPR ratings by the end of the regular season.