Today's Fantasy Rx

Welcome our weekly LPR rankings, our primary method to identify highly skilled and/or consistently effective pitchers. Please refer to the end of the article 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 August 18th. 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
AX - Freddy Garcia(44340)
A - Bronson Arroyo(34443)

23abcxyz - Mariano Rivera(3143451354)
2a - Travis Harper(1442334544)
abcxyz - Tom Gordon(4525534455)
abcxyz - Mike Timlin(2550442024)
x - Kevin Gregg(5354454313)

A bad week for Oakland pitchers resulted in the departures of Mulder and Duchscherer, again reducing us to a sextet of pitchers at the highest ranking. I just don't see too many trustworthy AL pitchers right now, so stick with established performers as much as possible down the stretch.

2
3ABCXYZ - Pedro Martinez(44442)
3ABCYZ - Roy Halladay(52530)
3ABXYZ - Mark Mulder(41333)
3bcyz - Byung-Hyun Kim(400)
ABCXYZ - Tim Hudson(22444)
ABCYZ - Curt Schilling(22422)
BCY - Kevin Brown(04513)
BY - Esteban Loaiza(12332)
CY - Sidney Ponson(43352)
B - Mike Mussina(32320)
c - Scott Schoeneweis(24040)

3bcyz - Alan Embree(2454334443)
3acz - Arthur Rhodes(4423542124)
Baxz - Scot Shields(3323455225)
bcz - Jeremy Affeldt(432412454)

3
abcxyz - Keith Foulke(3533443443)
abcxyz - Francisco Cordero(2445333433)
abcyz - Chad Bradford(5354442434)
bcxy - Damaso Marte(3344334302)
cxz - Ricardo Rincon(3555423340)
cyz - Buddy Groom(1333223432)

A
ABXYz - Johan Santana(54454)
Terry Mulholland(44024)

Dave Borkowski completed his initial descent by falling of the ranking completely this week, however one disaster should not spoil his otherwise impressive record. I continue to recommend him, and you also should still regularly run Nate Robertson, who similarly lost his standing at this tier for the first time in months. Of course, Santana remains the best pitcher in the league, giving you at least one pitcher worth your targeting in every league.

b - Dennys Reyes(5144513255)

B
C - Javier Vazquez(32231)
Y - Joel Pineiro(23404)
Jose Contreras(33444)
Cliff Lee(00240)
Eric DuBose(32300)

Contreras quietly looks like one of the best investments available to AL owners right now.

C
XZ - Mark Buehrle(33443)
YZ - Tim Wakefield(23234)
Z - Derek Lowe(32345)
x - Rodrigo Lopez(30441)
b - Mickey Callaway(00)
Miguel Batista(32120)
Bartolo Colon(43313)

X
by - Jake Westbrook(42334)
Zach Greinke(33414)
David Bush(30343)

Y
cz - Jose Jimenez(3345134024)

Z
Orlando Hernandez(50353)

a
John Halama(02330)

bcxyz - Octavio Dotel(5432114555)
bcxyz - Scott Williamson(2235545454)
bcxyz - Eddie Guardado(3534443310)
bcxy - Brendan Donnelly(3545442534)
bcxy - Brian Shouse(4023343443)
bcyz - Jason Grimsley(4453532543)
bcx - Jim Mecir(4534445324)
cxz - Bob Wickman(4543425553)
cxz - J.C. Romero(5045345523)
bx - B.J. Ryan(3423322444)
xy - Francisco Rodriguez(4552454442)
xz - Jorge Julio(5344343444)
c - Mike Myers(0443454454)
x - Joe Nathan(5435455534)
x - Bob Howry(3444534354)
x - Frank Francisco(3545533343)
x - Juan Rincon(3453443432)
x - Carlos Almanzar(3354534442)
x - Ramiro Mendoza(4434335232)
x - Rafael Betancourt(5440433325)
x - Jason Kershner(5353434515)
Esteban Yan(3442534324)
Matt J. Miller(1353324354)

Other than Takatsu's demotion and some minor shuffling throughout their tier, I see nothing particularly noteworthy. I don't expect to see significant movement here over the balance of the season, making most of these relievers safe choices in standard leagues.

b
c - Kelvim Escobar(13550)
Kirk Saarloos(43030)

cxz - Ugueth Urbina(3543343345)
cyz - Paul Quantrill(3433444330)
cz - Troy Percival(4530545332)
xy - Danys Baez(5544323313)
c - Jeff Nelson(5443023422)
c - Scott Sauerbeck
y - David Riske(4352532223)
y - Curtis Leskanic(4455321330)
y - Derrick Turnbow(3334)
y - Rafael Soriano(424332)
y - Mike MacDougal(50522)
John Parrish(4422232332)
Bobby Seay(3301344334)
Mark Malaska(3332411433)
Jack Cressend(4243121113)
Chris Mears

c
x - Ron Villone(25020)
z - Brian Anderson(50432)
z - Mark Hendrickson(30300)
Carlos Silva(33330)

yz - Terry Adams(4345333453)
z - Chris Hammond(3333533453)
z - Cliff Politte(4235523523)
z - Rick White(5234431420)
z - Scott Stewart(3425334510)
z - Ben Weber(3244323211)
z - Steve Karsay
z - Omar Daal
z - Jayson Durocher
z - Jason Middlebrook
z - Britt Reames
z - Carl Sadler
Justin Speier(433424530)
Julio Mateo(4252443221)
Kelly Wunsch(532)
Kane Davis
Hansel Izquierdo
Jose Santiago
Mike Thurman

x
Jason Frasor(2433332333)
Shingo Takatsu(3423423413)
Jesus Colome(2534354334)
Erasmo Ramirez(3334341334)
Chad Gaudin(3233331435)

C.J. Nitkowski, Jamie Walker, and Trever Miller all drop off this week while Cerda drops down in a very bad week for formerly safe southpaws. Frasor and Takatsu remain respectable closers, however I wish both pitchers demonstrated more upside; their unimpressive skills keep me from recommending them strongly.

z
Jaime Cerda(4242445121)
Mike Jackson(2544235033)
Brandon Puffer(2332242224)

AL starters I recommend despite their failure to appear above include David Borkowski(44340), Ryan Drese(30434), Jason Johnson(53423), John Lackey(35133), Jon Lieber(34043), Bobby Madritsch(543), Gil Meche(03433), Brad Radke(32555), Josh Towers(43034), and Mike Wood(34144).

Other decent relievers include Grant Balfour, Shawn Camp, Lance Carter, Vinnie Chulk, Jesse Crain, Justin Duchscherer, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Ron Mahay, Trever Miller, and J.J. Putz.

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 Johan Santana leads any list of dominant young pitchers, several rookies and other relatively inexperienced starters look like good targets for both contenders and rebuilding teams. Bronson Arroyo, Jose Contreras, Jake Westbrook, Zach Greinke, and David Bush rank as your best bets. Dave Borkowski, Ryan Drese, Bobby Madritsch, and Mike Wood also all possess intriguing upside. Rostering any of the latter quartet could pay unexpected dividends, although contenders definitely should monitor their progress carefully given their inconsistent histories.