Today's Fantasy Rx

Welcome our weekly LPR rankings, our primary method to identify highly skilled and/or consistently effective pitchers. While we haven't changed this system since the second half of last season, feel free to refer here for a complete description of the codes. We've included the five most recent 2004 QA scores for each starter, along with the 10 most recent QA scores for each reliever, tabulating all data through June 2nd. Pitchers with no QA scores have not pitched this year, so don't roster any of them unless you see someone ready to return to the majors.

1
23ABXYZ - Mark Mulder(35344)
2ABCXYZ - Curt Schilling(43434)

axy - Francisco Rodriguez(3545244453)
ax - Carlos Almanzar(4444433433)
x - Kevin Gregg(5434335343)

Garcia missed maintaining his hold here due to allowing on more extra flyball; he still looks strong and should return next week. While Pedro and Duchscherer depart due to respective homer and walk troubles, Mulder certainly merits this rating. Almanzar is tougher to evaluate since his lack of 5 scores and the downside of pitching in Texas give him less upside than similar pitchers, but he still seems worth owning in deep AL leagues.

2
3ABCYZ - Pedro Martinez(45532)
3BCXYZ - Roy Halladay(23525)
3bcyz - Byung-Hyun Kim(400)
BCXYZ - Tim Hudson(44303)
BCXY - Kevin Brown(31303)
BY - Esteban Loaiza(34252)
CY - Sidney Ponson(44301)
Xc - Scott Schoeneweis(43433)
B - Mike Mussina(43522)

Other than Pedro exchanging spots with Mulder and Hudson looking less dominant by the start, this level again stayed steady.

3abcxyz - Mariano Rivera(3344254315)
3bcxyz - Alan Embree(3332533404)
3acz - Arthur Rhodes(2254544423)
Baxz - Scot Shields(2535534443)
bcz - Jeremy Affeldt(23443)
a - Travis Harper(4445424322)

3
abcxyz - Keith Foulke(5544434302)
abcxyz - Francisco Cordero(5535544443)
acxyz - Buddy Groom(4404303553)
acxz - Ricardo Rincon(4534534033)
bcxy - Damaso Marte(3331443353)
bcyz - Chad Bradford(5454554422)

A
BCX - Javier Vazquez(23542)
BYz - Johan Santana(04305)
Xb - Dennys Reyes(40354)
C - Victor Zambrano(20043)
X - Jon Lieber(35442)
X - Aaron Sele(23345)
X - Joaquin Benoit(44330)
Rich Harden(44244)
Nate Robertson(42334)
Bronson Arroyo(55102)
Mike Maroth(04223)

I don't know how Reyes and Sele continue to pitch effectively given their extended struggles in recent years, however feel free to ride both of them as long as continue dominating.

B
X - Cliff Lee(43333)
Y - Joel Pineiro(43435)
Eric DuBose(30432)
Jose Contreras(40420)

C
XYZ - Tim Wakefield(34342)
Z - Mark Buehrle(43545)
Z - Derek Lowe(33031)
x - Rodrigo Lopez(024)
Miguel Batista(54404)
Bartolo Colon(43220)

b - Mickey Callaway(5)

X
Freddy Garcia(53241)
Jon Garland(23533)
Justin Miller(53413)

Garcia and Miller fall down here, replacing Drese and Radke, while Garland's increasing success makes him a better play by the week.

Y
acz - Jose Jimenez(2325343504)

Z
Orlando Hernandez.

a
bcxyz - Eddie Guardado(4443445343)
bcxyz - Mike Timlin(4543354341)
bcxyz - Tom Gordon(4543223534)
bcxyz - Jason Grimsley(4244352344)
bcxz - Ugueth Urbina(2445343344)
bcyz - Paul Quantrill(2332244034)

Continued success for Gordon and Grimsley earned them small bumps this week.

bcx - Jim Mecir(4544543043)
bxy - Danys Baez(5443423533)
bxy - Danny Patterson(2043544543)
cxz - Billy Koch(5434454541)
cxz - J.C. Romero(5355354333)
bx - B.J. Ryan(1443434345)
by - Curtis Leskanic(5215533441)
cz - Cliff Politte(4323234125)
xz - Jorge Julio(4525443133)

x - Joe Nathan(2445543553)
x - Shingo Takatsu(2332344545)
x - Jon Adkins(4223343443)
Juan Rincon(4430545443)
John Halama(4424543341)
Aaron Fultz(3454512544)
Kerry Ligtenberg(4404444223)
Neal Cotts(4344242441)
J.J. Putz(4433201244)
Rafael Betancourt(5415341252)
Mike Nakamura(4543422043)

While Takatsu reemerges thanks to a string of dominant outings and Fultz rejoins this ranking, Halama and Betancourt now look less safe and Jamie Walker, Lenny DiNardo, Terry Mulholland, and Esteban Yan all fell off completely, so if you own any of this foursome, try to replace them with a less risky option.

b
c - Kelvim Escobar(30241)
y - Jake Westbrook(33422)

cxyz - Scott Williamson(3353354223)
cy - Brian Shouse(544543)
cy - Brendan Donnelly
cz - Troy Percival(2530343322)
c - Jeff Nelson(4405443023)
c - Scott Sauerbeck
y - David Riske(4144332444)
y - Rafael Soriano(424332)
y - Mike MacDougal(50522)
y - Derrick Turnbow
John Parrish(1424244244)
Mark Malaska(2304213332)
Jack Cressend(4243121113)
Chris Mears
Kirk Saarloos
Bobby Seay

c
z - Mark Hendrickson(53230)
Carlos Silva(20034)

yz - Terry Adams(2532234433)
x - Ron Villone(3342343454)
z - Rick White(3433353432)
z - Ben Weber(5324432321)
z - Chris Hammond(4333124314)
z - Brian Anderson(41)
z - Scott Stewart(3425334510)
z - Steve Karsay
z - Omar Daal
z - Bob Wickman
z - Jayson Durocher
z - Jason Middlebrook
z - Britt Reames
z - Al Reyes
z - Carl Sadler
Julio Mateo(3353531324)
Mike Myers(4025234435)
Justin Speier(4332142342)
Kelly Wunsch(532)
Kane Davis
Hansel Izquierdo
Jose Santiago
Mike Thurman

x
z - Jaime Cerda(1333333144)
Jason Kershner(4335353434)
Trever Miller(3433354353)
Erasmo Ramirez(3444323333)
Jason Frasor(3433354332)
Valerio de los Santos(3054343234)
Chad Gaudin(3233331435)

With Takatsu moving up and Field departing, this level looks like the home for decent left-handed roster filler aside from Toronto's new closer Frasor and the demoted Gaudin.

y
Rick Helling

z
Mike DeJean(5453012243)
Mike Jackson(4222334225)

AL starters I recommend despite their failure to appear above include Ryan Drese(34304), Ryan Franklin(34233), Zach Greinke(433), Pat Hentgen(24333), Gary Knotts(5044), Jamie Moyer(32343), Brad Radke(33432), and Barry Zito(23344).

Other decent relievers include Steve Colyer and Justin Duchscherer.

1 - K/9 of 6.0+, BB/9 of 3.0-, H/9 of 9.0-, HR/9 of 1.0-,
     and G-F of 1.0+ in 25+ IP in 2004.
2 - K/9 of 6.0+, BB/9 of 3.0-, H/9 of 9.0-, HR/9 of 1.0-,
     and G-F of 1.0+ in 25+ IP in 2003.
3 - K/9 of 6.0+, BB/9 of 3.0-, H/9 of 9.0-, HR/9 of 1.0-,
     and G-F of 1.0+ in 25+ IP in 2002.

QA score for starts: up to 5 total points, one for each statistical goal, to any starter who pitches at least 5 innings and fulfills any of the following skill qualifications: K>=IP-2, BB<=IP/3, H<=IP, HR<=1, and G-F>=1.00. Any starter who doesn't reach any of the required statistical goals or fails to pitch 5 innings earns a 0 QA score. Scores of 5 and 4 qualify as DOMinant outings, a 3 is DULl, and anything below 3 ranks as a skill DISaster.

QA score for relief outings: up to 5 total points, one for each statistical goal, to any reliever who retires at least one batter and fulfills any of the following skill qualifications: K>=IP, BB=0, H<=IP, HR=0, and G-F>=1.00. Any reliever who doesn't reach any of the required statistical goals or fails to retire a batter earns a 0 QA score. Scores of 5 and 4 qualify as DOMinant outings, a 3 is DULl, and anything below 3 ranks as a skill DISaster.

Note: Starters must pitch in five games before earning any of the following DOM or DIS ratings; relievers must appear in no less than 10 games before earning DOM/DIS consideration. All pitchers are evaluated as relievers aside from those who reached both 5 starts in a given season and qualified for DOM or DIS ratings.

A - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2004 starts
B - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2003 starts
C - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2002 starts

X - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2004 starts
Y - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2003 starts
Z - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2002 starts

a - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2004 relief outings
b - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2003 relief outings
c - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2002 relief outings

x - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2004 relief outings
y - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2003 relief outings
z - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2002 relief outings

We'll continue tomorrow with this week's NL LPR article.

Today's Fantasy Rx: While we haven't attended a midnight movie debut since last fall's LOTR: The Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban proved to be worth both our time and the elevated cost of an evening show.

The biggest difference between Azkaban and the previous two Potter films is the directorial change, from Chris Columbus, who filmed the first Home Alone films, to Alfonso Cuaron, best known for the 1998 remake of Great Expectations and Y Tu Mama Tambien. Cuaron, free of the need to provide extended scenes of background information, nicely condensed the book into a surprisingly crisp 142-minute movie. Although Azkaban contained special effects necessary to illustrate the plot of the story, the narrative received more attention than in the first two films, where the visual introduction of elements of the fictional universe, particularly Quidditch, occupied center stage.

We again witness the entire experience from Harry's perspective, however other characters now appear to possess far more depth, leading independent lives that merely intersect with Harry's rather than revolve around him. By keeping Hermione as a vital secondary presence who works together with Harry throughout the film, instead of leaving her as an advisor on the sidelines who helps Harry progress through his journey, Cuaron avoids the error made by Columbus in altering the last act of The Sorcerer's Stone. While we didn't see quite as much detail regarding the many characters' motivations as expected, the nuances that failed to transition from the book to the movie likely at least should make the DVD's deleted scenes, and we really didn't notice any particularly obvious omissions.

Unfortunately for the youngest fans of the series, the movies, like the books, continue to grow darker. Azkaban probably merited a PG-13 rating due to the presence of the Dementors. Of course, awarding a PG-13 here would place next year's The Goblet of Fire on the edge of an R, so despite the lack of a rating change now, please exercise caution in allowing young children to accompany you.

The first four Potter movies eventually will work as a trilogy. Both The Sorcerer's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets wisely weaved the tapestry of J.K. Rowling's vision, establishing Harry as a heroic protagonist. Following the pattern of the best movie trilogies' second installments, Azkaban ends in a very different place from its predecessors, providing Harry with new allies and enemies that play major roles in Goblet and The Order of the Phoenix. Even without knowing anything about Rowling's last two stories, we expect Goblet to rank as the highlight of the series, perhaps ranking second only to the last of the planned seven books and movies. Azkaban provided the logical bridge between Columbus' interpretation of the text and the increasingly adult plots to come. Anyone without a vested interest in either the books or previous movies doesn't need to see Azkaban, since it doesn't truly stand alone as an independent film, however Potter fans, especially older devotees of the series, certainly should enjoy the movie. It also should translate very nicely to smaller screens since it lacks most of the expansive effects scenes of the originals.