Today's Fantasy Rx

Welcome to 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 July 21st. 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
2A - Brad Penny(42142)
3ABCXZ - Randy Johnson(55244)
3ABCXZ - Odalis Perez(54442)
ACX - Ben Sheets(54544)
Doug Davis(30433)

Davis flips with Burnett, although the latter offers significantly more upside, especially since his limited innings this season make Davis currently more valuable.

23abcxyz - John Smoltz(4355354445)
23abcxyz - Billy Wagner(4534444524)
2abcxyz - Eric Gagne(5554455535)
ax - Kiko Calero(3434434344)
ax - Ryan Madson(3443432324)
ax - Akinori Otsuka(2201533435)
ax - Orber Moreno(3054524524)

Looper slips down for the first time in months while both Wagner and Calero take their rightful places at the top of the reliever rankings.

2
3CXZ - Kevin Millwood(43135)
BCYZ - Mark Prior(43200)

3abcxyz - LaTroy Hawkins(4324413414)
3byz - Joe Borowski(2433341342)
bcxyz - Mike Koplove(3133353125)
abx - Guillermo Mota(4444344231)
bcz - Tim Spooneybarger
byz - Rheal Cormier(3245543233)
by - Javier Lopez(4433252530)

3
ABCXYZ - Roy Oswalt(52430)
ACZ - Matt Morris(54440)
C - Woody Williams(35234)

abcxyz - Jason Isringhausen(3345434325)
cxz - Steve Reed(5235444403)
by - Jay Witasick(3444231153)
cz - Robb Nen

A
BCXY - Roger Clemens(44445)
BCX - Andy Pettitte(43435)
BCY - Jason Schmidt(13455)
BCZ - Matt Clement(04442)
CX - Jake Peavy(45023)
CZ - A.J. Burnett(04443)

CZ - Greg Maddux(30424)
CZ - John Patterson(04400)
Xc - Carl Pavano(45343)
X - Chris Carpenter(54503)
X - Jason Marquis(43531)
X - Cory Lidle(43445)
X - Joe Kennedy(33434)
y - Glendon Rusch(44354)
Russ Ortiz(34314)
Jeff Suppan(24543)
Kerry Wood(55033)
Pete Munro(44004)

Moves upward from Pettitte, Burnett, Patterson, Lidle, and Munro help compensate for the drops of Webb, Lawrence, Burnett, Alvarez, and Jerome Williams.

B
XY - Brandon Webb(24342)
C - Wade Miller(04442)
Y - Josh Beckett(44400)
y - Adam Bernero(20)
Livan Hernandez(33005)
Andrew Good(00)
Michael Tejera(00)

Yax - Darren Dreifort(3544425445)
Yax - Juan Cruz(3544544544)
a - Jim Brower(4344434524)
x - Jeff Fassero(4435412432)
x - Amaury Telemaco(3433334030)
Todd Van Poppel(5122435432)

C
XZ - Jeff Weaver(33332)
Yz - Carlos Zambrano(31233)
Y - Kip Wells(52434)
Z - Brian Lawrence(43302)
David Wells(32543)
Adam Eaton(44421)
Al Leiter(23205)
Casey Fossum(03205)

X
Z - Vicente Padilla(53233)
Sean Burnett(35432)
Paul Byrd(304530
Tom Glavine(42323)

Byrd's comeback continues to impress me as he ranks as another success story for Leo Mazzone.

Y
Z - Randy Wolf(04032)
Dustin Hermanson(41511)
Tony Armas, Jr.(03031)

Z
Oliver Perez(33434)

a
x - Elmer Dessens(00000)
Wilson Alvarez(10533)

While Alvarez remains a solid option for Los Angeles, Arizona must pull Dessens from the rotation immediately. He pitched quite well in relief, but given his struggles as a starter, shifting his role a second time makes no sense.

bcxy - Braden Looper(4324344443)
bcxz - Chris Reitsma(5435350422)
bcxz - Ray King(2534444243)
bcxz - Luis Vizcaino(2444443515)
bxyz - Danny Kolb(4453354154)
bcx - Mike Lincoln(4245453341)
bxy - Kyle Farnsworth(5542552543)
bxy - Luis Ayala(5544454545)

Ayala easily ranks as the hottest reliever in baseball right now. Given Chad Cordero's questionable skills, adding Ayala in any league looks like a smart move.

cxz - Trevor Hoffman(4443530555)
cxz - Billy Koch(3343435505)
cxz - Armando Almanza(334444031)
cyz - Antonio Alfonseca(5553023504)
bx - Brad Lidge(4430454523)
bx - Armando Benitez(4322554155)
by - Julian Tavarez(3334424452)
by - Jose Valverde(3132442434)
cx - Danny Graves(5443444523)
cx - Steve Kline(4544345154)
cx - Blaine Neal(2045553335)
cx - John Riedling(2534334223)
cy - Brian Fuentes(3515234442)
xy - John Franco(5334032253)
c - Randy Choate(4453532443)
c - Brian Boehringer(2433434431)
x - Mike Gonzalez(4542555555)
x - Scott Linebrink(3525454544)
x - Salomon Torres(5453432342)
x - Matt Wise(5234543353)
x - Joe Horgan(1435433433)
x - Mike Adams(4542442554)
x - T.J. Tucker(2242442433)
x - Darren Oliver(3434244341)
x - Tommy Phelps(3352455450)
y - Brian Meadows(3234045423)
y - Oscar Villarreal(1544430332)
z - Brandon Villafuerte(4234234422)
Phil Norton(2543443345)
John Grabow(5314354542)
Dan Miceli(5533022232)
Kirk Bullinger(4125154034)

Wise displaces Parra and Horgan moves up, however the consistent effectiveness of Gonzalez and Linebrink merits attention.

b
cxyz - Tim Worrell(4454232354)
cy - Matt Herges(3353132023)
cz - Mike Remlinger(3353324332)
cz - Roberto Hernandez(5244444144)
cz - Joey Eischen
cz - Paul Shuey
cz - Mike Crudale
yz - Matt Mantei(4024421333)
c - Scott Strickland
y - Tom Martin(3544342343)
y - Rod Beck(3015454343)
Cal Eldred(1454522443)
Dave Burba(3343114234)
Kevin Gryboski(0344230423)
Scott Service(3135442331)
Jason Simontacchi(212234)
Will Cunnane(341043333)
Troy Brohawn

c
Zach Day(04210)

yz - Ricky Stone(2333445422)
z - Mike Fetters(4344)
z - Ricky Bottalico(4323424532)
z - Todd Jones(3542243315)
z - Eddie Oropesa(3040332450)
z - Dave Coggin
z - Chad Paronto
z - Al Reyes
Sun-Woo Kim(4235351422)
Toby Borland(5222512431)
Travis Driskill

x
z - Jose Mesa(2353434523)
Brian Bruney(4234234533)
C.J. Nitkowski(2344334432)
Chad Fox(4454433330)

The struggles of Harville and Beltran forced both of this ranking while leading to the latter pitcher's demotion.

y
Rocky Biddle(44)

While I harbor severe doubts regarding Biddle's ability to sustain this skill level as a starter, two dominant appearances suddenly make him an acceptable option in deeper leagues.

Mike Stanton(3223441453)
Brooks Kieschnick(3324103404)
Grant Roberts(1232)
John Foster
Dave Veres

z
Mike DeJean(3515543354)
Vladimir Nunez(1413324320)
Dave Elder
Dan Reichert
Chad Zerbe

Given the injuries sustained by the Mets' bullpen, DeJean now looks like a decent pick-up as Looper insurance.

NL starters I recommend despite their failure to appear above include Kris Benson(33434), Chris Capuano(34234), Aaron Harang(43552), Kirk Rueter(33443), Paul Wilson(43332), and Jaret Wright(35344).

Other decent relievers include Greg Aquino, Giovanni Carrara, Chad Cordero, Scott Eyre, Jon Leicester, Kent Mercker, and Ryan Wagner.

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

Tomorrow, like every Sunday during the season, we'll post our preview of the coming week's games and our CDM challenge lineups.

Today's Fantasy Rx: Unsurprisingly, the quantity of top NL starters easily outpaces their AL colleagues. Trade targets that you can value at $20+ include Ben Sheets, Roger Clemens, Jason Schmidt, and Randy Johnson while Andy Pettitte, Odalis Perez, Matt Morris, and Carl Pavano only appear slightly back of the front quartet. Attempt to add any of these starters when looking for a significant boost in the qualitative categories and hopefully wins, too.