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 July 7th. 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(33453)
3ACXZ - Roy Halladay(44555)
ABC - Matt Clement(44433)
AX - Bartolo Colon(44242)
A - Dan Haren(44434)
A - Erik Bedard(55452)

3ax - Arthur Rhodes(4544325314)
abcxyz - Brian Shouse(4342242032)
abcxy - B.J. Ryan(5555455452)
abxy - Matt Miller(3544524433)
ax - Justin Duscherer(3454545425)
x - Matt Guerrier(44452534433)

Losing Millwood, Farnsworth, and even Harden this week doesn't consider me, especially with Matts Miller and Guerrier joining the top rank for the first time and All-Star Justin Duchscherer's first appearance this season. While most veteran fantasy players will recognize the upside suggested by Miller's skills, Guerrier also appears perfectly viable for anyone in need of qualitative stability given his strong minor league stats and solid support from the rest of the Twins' bullpen. Duchscherer only appears less relevant right now since I doubt he remains available in any AL-only league of reasonable depth.

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: Sun:CLE(J.Westbrook)
Johan Santana: No start
Pedro Martinez: Sat:@PIT(K.Wells)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:LAD(J.Weaver)
Roger Clemens: Fri:LAD(D.Houlton)
Ben Sheets: Sat:@ATL(K.Davies)
Mark Mulder: Fri:@SF(J.Schmidt)
Jake Peavy: No start
Dontrelle Willis: Fri:CHC(C.Zambrano)
A.J. Burnett: No start
Josh Beckett: No start
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at TEX

With a mildly surprising lack of starts and Batista unusable, sitting Sheets looks like our best bet here.

Offensively, with Chicago against Kendall and Tampa facing IRod, newly minted All-Star Scott Podsednik will replace Carl Crawford in our lineup. Morneau, Iguchi, Mora, and Holliday remain benched.

Rotohelp.com(3rd lg; 67th overall)
Week 14b: July 8-July 10

 
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	Jim Edmonds		1250
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110
OF	Adam Dunn		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090
OF	Kevin Mench		580 
OF	Jeremy Reed		400
UT	Travis Hafner		810 
UT	Joe Mauer		440

SP	Randy Johnson		1980 
SP	Pedro Martinez		1450
SP	Roy Oswalt		1320 
SP	Roger Clemens		1280 
SP	Mark Mulder		1060 
SP	Dontrelle Willis	870
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270 
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	1250
RP	B.J. Ryan		950 

Total Salary for Week 14b: 	29780

Today's Fantasy Rx: Despite the greater press afforded the call-up of Yankees' rookie Melky Cabrera, Boston's Adam Stern enjoys a much higher chance of contributing to fantasy rosters this season. Stern's double-digit SB upside alone could result in significant roto value, and with Trot Nixon remaining somewhat fragile, Stern easily could see fairly regular playing time whenever a Boston outfielder hits the DL. Bidding at least a few bucks on him looks like a far better move than gambling more than a minimum ante on Cabrera, who simply doesn't appear ready to play every day in the majors.