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 June 29th. 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
2ABY - Freddy Garcia(24334)
3ACXZ - Roy Halladay(54455)
3A - Kevin Millwood(50414)
ABC - Matt Clement(40444)
AX - Bartolo Colon(32442)
AX - Rich Harden(44043)
A - Dan Haren(43444)
A - Erik Bedard(55452)

3ax - Arthur Rhodes(4454432531)
abcxyz - Brian Shouse(4434224203)
abcxy - B.J. Ryan(4255554554)
abcz - Kyle Farnsworth(4445524335)

The top ranking continues shifting as Garcia, Millwood, Ryan, and Farnsworth return, Dan Haren and Matt Clement spend their first week up here, and Bonderman and Timlin again drop down.

I hope to post the remainder of this ranking soon.

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:@DET(J.Bonderman)
Johan Santana: Fri:TB(C.Fossum)
Roger Clemens: Sun:@CIN(B.Claussen)
Jake Peavy: Fri:SF(K.Correia)
Mark Mulder: Sun:COL(J.Jennings)
Dontrelle Willis: Sun:@NYM(Jor.Sosa)
A.J. Burnett: Fri:@NYM(T.Glavine)
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at BOS.

No starts: Pedro, Oswalt, Sheets, Beckett

A continuing need for offense here necessitates sitting Randy, and a desire for wins keeps Batista on our bench.

With the cap limiting our options offensively, along with the injuries to Mora and Holliday, only swapping Buck for Mauer makes much sense while allowing us to hit the cap exactly. Iguchi unfortunately remains with Reed on the bench.

Rotohelp.com(3rd lg; 87th overall)
Week 13b: July 1-July 3

 
C	Victor Martinez		860 
C	John Buck		390
1B	Albert Pujols		1930 
1B	Mark Teixeira		1310
2B	Brian Roberts		960
2B	Marcus Giles		950
3B	Troy Glaus		830
3B	Garrett Atkins		400
SS	Miguel Tejada		1800 
SS	Jose Reyes		850 
OF	Carl Crawford		1560 
OF	Jim Edmonds		1250
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110
OF	Adam Dunn		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Kevin Mench		580
UT	Travis Hafner		810
UT	Justin Morneau		680 

SP	Johan Santana		1710 
SP	Roger Clemens		1280 
SP	Mark Mulder		1060 
SP	Jake Peavy		1030 
SP	Dontrelle Willis	870 
SP	A.J. Burnett		830 
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270 
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	1250
RP	B.J. Ryan		950 

Total Salary for Week 13b: 	30000

Today's Fantasy Rx: Exercise extreme caution when making roster decisions involving any injured players over the next several days. With the All-Star break less than two weeks away, many teams see no reason not to sit or even DL a mildly hurt player, hoping that he'll benefit from the extended rest, rather than risk a minor problem ballooning into a serious issue. Consider benching anyone you see missing this weekend's games for any physical reason.