Today's Fantasy Rx

Welcome to 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 September 1st. 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(23540)
3ABCXZ - Randy Johnson(54444)
3ABCYZ - Roy Oswalt(34024)
ACX - Jake Peavy(55535)
ACX - Ben Sheets(43344)
CXZ - Jeff Weaver(43234)
CZ - A.J. Burnett(53535)
B - Livan Hernandez(54432)

Peavy, Sheets, and Burnett return while only Woody Williams drops down. Although Sheets may not win many games thanks to the Brewers' offense, his qualitative contributions and strikeouts still make him quite valuable. Burnett also appears ready to close out the year very strongly before posting even better numbers next year after he fully recovers from Tommy John surgery.

23abcxyz - John Smoltz(4454444554)
2abcxyz - Eric Gagne(3335243454)
3abcxyz - Jason Isringhausen(5452455544)
abxy - Julian Tavarez(4354243552)
abxy - Luis Ayala(4235323245)
ax - Mike Gonzalez(5454335434)
ax - Ryan Madson(4343232424)
a - Orber Moreno(0545245242)

2
3CXZ - Kevin Millwood(35340)
BCYZ - Mark Prior(03321)

3abcxyz - Billy Wagner(4534444524)
3abcxyz - LaTroy Hawkins(4433324534)
3byz - Joe Borowski(2433341342)
abcxyz - Mike Koplove(3344324345)
abx - Guillermo Mota(4354433444)
bcz - Tim Spooneybarger
byz - Rheal Cormier(4253535244)
by - Javier Lopez(5304343454)

3
ABCZ - Odalis Perez(53402)
ACZ - Matt Morris(43543)
C - Woody Williams(53424)

cxz - Steve Reed(4434333542)
by - Jay Witasick(1531234453)
cz - Robb Nen

A
BCX - Andy Pettitte(35444)
BCY - Jason Schmidt(52550)
BCY - Roger Clemens(32044)
BCZ - Matt Clement(34520)
CXYz - Carlos Zambrano(45543)
CXZ - Greg Maddux(24454)
XZ - Oliver Perez(44454)
X - Chris Carpenter(50545)
X - Dennis Tankersley(54432)
X - Joe Kennedy(42035)
Dontrelle Willis(45242)
Cory Lidle(34035)
Kerry Wood(24004)

While Tank's heading in a bad direction, I still trust his upside and expect him to emerge as an intriguing fantasy player within the next couple of years.

y - Glendon Rusch(3423203441)

B
C - Wade Miller(04422)
Y - Josh Beckett(34434)
Y - Brandon Webb(23454)
Michael Tejera(00)

I see sufficient upside in Webb's trend to recommend him despite his generally poor control this year.

Yax - Darren Dreifort(5534542043)
Yx - Juan Cruz(4434332433)
x - Jeff Fassero(5412432355)
Jim Brower(3345344240)
Andrew Good(5423252332)
Todd Van Poppel(3350113423)

C
Y - Kip Wells(41340)
Z - Brian Lawrence(13440)
Z - John Patterson(34040)
Adam Eaton(34433)
Victor Zambrano(43350)
Casey Fossum(00514)
Al Leiter(02413)
David Wells(33333)

While Wells strikes out few batters, his consistent outings and great command make him a perfect fit for San Diego and roto teams needing a qualitative boost.

X
Z - Vicente Padilla(53352)
c - Carl Pavano(32424)
Jason Marquis(43533)

Y
Z - Randy Wolf(44330)
Tony Armas(03003)

ax - Dustin Hermanson(3344432504)

a
bcxy - Braden Looper(2424444335)
bcxz - Ray King(4534333454)
bcxz - Joey Eischen(3534234344)
bcxz - Chris Reitsma(4351033234)
bxyz - Danny Kolb(4434314244)
bcx - Mike Lincoln(4245453341)
bcz - Luis Vizcaino(5413511434)
bxy - Kyle Farnsworth(1303023243)
cxy - Brian Fuentes(4233423453)
cxz - Trevor Hoffman(5354203155)
cxz - Billy Koch(2432333443)
cyz - Antonio Alfonseca(4442453445)
bx - Armando Benitez(5434345445)
bx - Brad Lidge(4443434435)
by - Jose Valverde(3132442434)
cx - Steve Kline(5433434444)
cx - Danny Graves(4423454203)
xz - Mike DeJean(4454553245)
c - Brian Boehringer(2433434431)
c - Randy Choate(4333342433)
x - Akinori Otsuka(4245544444)
x - Salomon Torres(5443552445)
x - Yhency Brazoban(3434352444)
x - Kiko Calero(3434455420)
x - Darren Oliver(4244341434)
x - Tommy Phelps(3352455450)
x - Elmer Dessens(2354234354)
x - Scott Linebrink(3242454533)
y - Brian Meadows(2343544314)
y - Oscar Villarreal(1544430332)
z - Jose Mesa(3141245455)
T.J. Tucker(5430255544)
John Grabow(3402454334)
Dan Miceli(4223434542)
Chad Harville(2242533443)
Wilson Alvarez(2342235432)
Mike Adams(3241332123)

Try to add Brazoban now, especially in keeper leagues, since he already looks like an adequate replacement for Guillermo Mota. More importantly, he should close if Los Angeles ever opts to dump Gagne's lofty salary.

b
cxyz - Tim Worrell(4235553155)
cy - Matt Herges(5243343233)
cz - Roberto Hernandez(3245441244)
cz - Mike Remlinger(2442442423)
cz - Paul Shuey
yz - Matt Mantei(4024421333)
c - Scott Strickland
y - Tom Martin(2453435542)
Cal Eldred(4534345544)
Kevin Gryboski(2553533434)
Dave Burba(4423424412)
Amaury Telemaco(4423234422)
Scott Service(3135442331)
Jason Simontacchi(1223444222)
Will Cunnane(341043333)

c
Zach Day(21043)

yz - Ricky Stone(4524334211)
z - Ricky Bottalico(4444412444)
z - Scott Stewart(4253345104)
z - Mike Fetters(0453532153)
z - Todd Jones(3224334332)
z - Dave Coggin
Blaine Neal(4333222553)
Sun-Woo Kim(5142233253)
John Riedling(2313114230)

x
y - Mike Stanton(2453555434)
Rudy Seanez(5445351244)
Duaner Sanchez(3444344335)
Greg Aquino(5533555333)
Chad Fox(4454433330)
Brian Bruney(3453334432)
Chad Qualls(5135343352)
Joe Horgan(5033333433)

y
John Franco(5323035421)
Brooks Kieschnick(3324103404)
Rocky Biddle(4235422132)

NL starters I recommend despite their failure to appear above include John Thomson(50453), Jaret Wright(30444), Jeff Suppan(34433), Mike Hampton(34034), Aaron Harang(33441), Eric Milton(53432), Brett Myers(50353), Brett Tomko(33244), Pete Munro(33043), Wes Obermueller(30343), and John Van Benschoten(334).

Other decent relievers include Gabe White, Ryan Wagner, Antonio Osuna, Tyler Walker, Todd Wellemeyer, Kent Mercker, Ryan Dempster, Felix Rodriguez, Dan Wheeler, and Scott Eyre.

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: Philadelphia finally promoted Gavin Floyd yesterday, who posted a respectable 2.57 ERA on a 94:46 K:BB in 119 IP with 93 H and 5 HR at AA Reading(EL) before roughly maintaining those skills during five starts at AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre(IL). Although his 4.99 AAA ERA might worry skittish owners, his 18:9 K:BB in 30.2 IP looks solid as an unfortunate 11.4 H/9 skewed his qualitative stats upward. Floyd's win against the Mets remains impressive despite New York's weak lineup since he demonstrated welcome all-around upside only marred by slight control problems. Given his long-term upside, definitely attempt to add Floyd anywhere he remains available, particularly if you can keep him at any salary below double digits.