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 last season, feel free to refer here for a complete description of the codes. We've included the five most recent 2005 QA scores for each starter, along with the 10 most recent QA scores for each reliever, tabulating all data through May 25th. 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 - Bartolo Colon(54334)
AX - Jeremy Bonderman(34355)
AX - Rich Harden(43440)
A - Erik Bedard(55452)

With both Harden and Bedard disabled and Halladay sliding down the ranking, Colon and Bonderman now rank as the safest starters to own in the league. Investing in either pitcher offers significant fantasy potential against very limited downside.

I hope to post the remainder of this ranking later today.

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 2005.
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 2004.
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 2003.

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 2005 starts
B - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2004 starts
C - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2003 starts

X - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2005 starts
Y - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2004 starts
Z - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2003 starts

a - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2005 relief outings
b - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2004 relief outings
c - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2003 relief outings

x - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2005 relief outings
y - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2004 relief outings
z - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2003 relief outings

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

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Fri:BOS(T.Wakefield)
Johan Santana: Fri:@TOR(J.Towers)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@FLO(B.Moehler)
Roy Oswalt: Fri:@MIL(D.Davis)
Ben Sheets: Sat:HOU(E.Astacio)
Dontrelle Willis: Sat:NYM(K.Ishii)

Josh Beckett: Sun:NYM(T.Glavine)
Miguel Batista: 3 Home vs. MIN.

No starts: Clemens, Mulder, Peavy, Burnett.

With Santana on the road against decent opposition and Sheets massively uncertain, we'll opt for the other six pitchers here.

Accommodating two expensive starters requires cutting a position player somewhere, so we'll deploy Jeremy Reed for the slumping Jim Edmonds over the weekend. Victor Martinez, Marcus Giles, Barmes, and Holliday remain benched.

Rotohelp.com(2nd lg; 40th overall)
Week 8b: May 27-May 29

 
C	Joe Mauer		440 
C	John Buck		390
1B	Albert Pujols		1930 
1B	Justin Morneau	680
2B	Brian Roberts		960 
2B	Tadahito Iguchi		750
3B	Melvin Mora		1270
3B	Troy Glaus		830
SS	Miguel Tejada		1800 
SS	Jose Reyes		850
OF	Carl Crawford		1560 
OF	Adam Dunn		1110
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Kevin Mench		580 
OF	Jeremy Reed		400
UT	Mark Teixeira		1310 
UT	Travis Hafner		810

SP	Randy Johnson		1980 
SP	Pedro Martinez		1450 
SP	Roy Oswalt		1320 
SP	Dontrelle Willis	870 
SP	Josh Beckett		820 
SP	Miguel Batista		840  
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman	1270
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	1250 
RP	B.J. Ryan		950

Total Salary for Week 8b: 	29900

Today's Fantasy Rx: Three interesting pitchers received promotions to the majors yesterday. Minor league free agent Steve Stemle possesses the least upside due to his unimpressive dominance, although he at least should emerge as reliable roster filler for the Royals. Cleveland's Brian Tallet appears fully recovered from arm problems and easily could blossom into a solid middle-of-the-rotation option, making him worth a small ante in most standard leagues. Finally, Hayden Penn's call-up to the Orioles seemingly looks like a mistake, but his skills look rock solid, and despite a lack of AAA experience, he appears capable of succeeding in Baltimore. Anyone looking towards next year certainly should consider a significant bid while risking a few bucks of FAAB even makes sense for teams that need help now.