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 August 17th. 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
3ACXZ - Roy Halladay(44555)
AX - Jeremy Bonderman(51443)
A - Erik Bedard(43024)

23abcxyz - Mariano Rivera(52533554433)
3ax - Arthur Rhodes(4433443435)
ax - Huston Street(3434553444)
ax - Justin Duchscherer(4234244434)

Another poor week for pitching results in Johan Santana, Rich Harden, Brian Shouse, and Miguel Batista all departing here despite relatively respectable performances. Only Duchscherer rejoins this list, although King Felix only needs four mediocre innings to claim his rightful spot among the most skilled pitchers in the game.

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

A severe lack of starts here forces us to flip Cardinals' pitchers, adding the scalding hot likely Cy Young winner and releasing Mark Mulder, who rarely manages more strikeouts than walks in his starts. While we considered repurchasing Rich Harden, Carpenter holds an edge in almost every statistical category.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: No start.
Johan Santana: No start.
Pedro Martinez: Sat:WAS(L.Hernandez)
Roy Oswalt: No start.
Roger Clemens: No start.
Ben Sheets: Sat:@HOU(W.Rodriguez)
Jake Peavy: No start.
Chris Carpenter: Fri:SF(B.Hennessey)
Dontrelle Willis: No start.
A.J. Burnett: Fri:LAD(D.Houlton)
Josh Beckett: No start.
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at DET

Deploying our five starts and Willis allows a maximization of our offense, leaving Buck, Morneau, Iguchi, Roberts, and the injured Podsednik on the bench while Hafner subs for Mench.

Rotohelp.com(7th lg; 245th overall)
Week 20b: August 19-August 21

 
C	Victor Martinez		860 
C	Joe Mauer		440
1B	Albert Pujols		1930 
1B	Mark Teixeira		1310
2B	Marcus Giles		950 
2B	Chase Utley		480
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	Matt Holliday		630 
UT	Melvin Mora		1270 
UT	Travis Hafner		810  

SP	Pedro Martinez		1450
SP	Ben Sheets		1200 
SP	Chris Carpenter	930
SP	Dontrelle Willis	870
SP	A.J. Burnett		830 
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 20b: 	29990

Today's Fantasy Rx: Adding almost any Athletics' reliever to your team should improve your qualitative base. While Street and Duchscherer obviously possess significant value, Calero, Witasick, Kennedy, Rhodes, and even Yabu at least offer less downside than many risky starters.