Today's Fantasy Rx

Last week I analyzed the seven most effective NL starters through no less than three starts: Chris Capuano, Brad Penny, Tom Glavine, Chris Carpenter, Greg Maddux, Jason Marquis, and Aaron Cook. Given another week of starts, four more pitchers reached similar qualifications without registering more than one disaster.

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.

We've included the most recent QA scores for each pitcher.

4 DOM, 0 DUL, 1 DIS
Wandy Rodriguez, HOU(24554): 4-0 on a 21:9 K:BB in 32 IP over 5 GS with 27 H, 2 HR, a 97 G-F, and a 2.53 ERA. Brandon Backe's injury somehow corresponded with Rodriguez's emergence as a capable #3 starter, an unexpected development from this soft-tossing southpaw. Yet with outstanding control and a steady stream of groundballs minimizing his downside, Rodriguez merits a roster spot in every NL league right now. Certainly take advantage of any oversight by your fellow owners to grab him off the waiver wire, but if Rodriguez already appears on another roster, now is not a good time to pay the going rate for him in trade. Wait to see if he can echo these qualitative stats for another full month before making a play for him anywhere.

Dontrelle Willis, FLO(44244): 1-1 on a 21:12 K:BB in 32.2 IP over 5 GS with 27 H, 0 HR, a 4.83 G-F, and a 3.13 ERA. These numbers actually qualify as a success for the Marlins' ace, who isn't even a month into the inevitable long slog of pitching in front of a half-dozen rookies for 30+ starts. His overall skills appear relative near his normal marks, nicely highlighted by an outstanding ground-fly rate that takes advantage of the club's respectable infield defense and ignores the obvious outfield gaps. You just might be able to acquire Willis at a discount in keeper leagues right now, but unless you're prepared to see him barely scratch double-digit wins, you just shouldn't spend much time negotiating for his rights at the moment.

Doug Davis, MIL(44404): 0-1 on a 20:21 K:BB in 25.2 IP over 5 GS with 27 H, 3 HR, a 1.04 G-F, and a 7.66 ERA. A tremendous walk rate spike seeming overwhelms an otherwise acceptable all-around skill set. However, he fairly cruised through his first three starts before an awful outing in Houston led to a nine-walk outing in Cincy that completely trashed his control. Davis still remains a solid fantasy performer, particularly in 5x5 leagues, and his temporarily lofty qualitative stats makes it surprisingly feasible to acquire him. As anything much above a 4.00 ERA and 1.30 WHIP on the season would shock me, owners who add Davis now can expect about 185 IP of a 3.56 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, along with a dozen wins and over 160 strikeouts. If those numbers appeal to you, minimize this window, go send out a trade offer or three, and then return to read the rest of this column.

3 DOM, 2 DUL, 0 DIS
Mark Mulder, STL(44343): 2-0 on a 16:7 K:BB in 36.2 IP over 5 GS with 24 H, 6 HR, a 3.60 G-F, and a 3.53 ERA. The Cardinals' highest profile pending free agent hasn't set the league on fire, but with an outstanding groundball rate matching perfectly with the club's strong infield defense, Mulder should remain quite effective despite his unimpressive strikeout rate. We also should see a gradual ERA decline as his homer rate corrects itself over the balance of the year, providing you another good reason to target the veteran southpaw. Considering I wouldn't rule out a couple of completely dominant months from Mulder before year's end, only a prevailing concern regarding further injury problems keeps me from unilaterally endorsing him at this time.

When examining dominant NL relievers two weeks ago, eight pitchers emerged as the safest bets in the league: Salomon Torres, Ryan Dempster, Greg Aquino, Dan Wheeler, Brad Lidge, Luis Vizcaino, Gary Majewski, and Billy Wagner. Although all eight remain among the top two dozen NL relievers, four more of the best NL relievers warrant reviews this week thanks to their combination of impressive upside and minimal downside. We've included up to the ten most recent QA scores for each pitcher.

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.

Tom Gordon deserved discussion here based on his nine dominant outings against a single disaster, but after appearing in Wednesday's article, reviewing him again seemed superfluous.

8 DOM, 2 DUL, 0 DIS
Takashi Saito, LAD(4434454443): 2-0 on a 12:2 K:BB in 11 IP over 10 G with 7 H, 1 HR, a 14-8 G-F, and a 0.82 ERA. The 36-year-old Japanese veteran parlayed a solid spring into a promotion during the first week of the season. Losing both Eric Gagne and Yhency Brazoban to injury prompted to the Dodgers to experiment with Saito in a more significant role, and he quickly emerged as the most reliable set-up man for Danys Baez. A well-rounded skill set and very consistent early work suggests plenty of short-term upside for Saito, making him an automatic target in all standard NL leagues.

8 DOM, 2 DUL, 1 DIS
Aaron Heilman, NYM(5540445534): 0-0 on a 12:5 K:BB in 13.2 IP over 11 G with 13 H, 0 HR, a 17-7 G-F, and a 2.84 ERA. Yes, Heilman deserved another shot at starting, but given Brian Bannister's respectable early work and the club's preference for Victor Zambrano to continue starting, Heilman at least remains a very useful bullpen asset. I see no fundamental weakness in this skill set, and if Billy Wagner falters, Heilman still could emerge as the closer over Duaner Sanchez. For now he'll continue contributing a couple of bucks of value each month as one of the safer relief options in baseball, easily warranting a roster spot even in 5x5 mixed leagues.

8 DOM, 1 DUL, 1 DIS
Tim Hamulack, LAD(5144454344): 0-1 on an 11:7 K:BB in 9 IP over 10 G with 6 H, 1 HR, a 10-7 G-F, and a 1.00 ERA. Hamulack's weak WHIP limits his overall value, but with reasonably low downside and promising consistency, owners in deep leagues can target him as roster filler. While you certainly can't expect more than a couple bucks of value, Hamulack similarly seems unlikely to hurt you as long as you bench him for the Dodgers' trip to Coors in two weeks.

8 DOM, 0 DUL, 1 DIS
Chad Bradford, NYM(454540444): 0-1 on a 11:0 K:BB in 7.1 IP over 9 G with 8 H, 0 HR, a 13-1 G-F, and a 3.46 ERA. With no walks, a single flyball, and a fairly few number of hits, Bradford joins teammates Aaron Heilman in ranking among the safest pitchers to own in either league. Of course, counter to Heilman, Bradford possesses very little upside given his loosely defined role as a right-handed specialist. He'll be lucky to win more than a couple of games, and although he might accumulate several dollars by September due to strong qualitative stats and several dozen strikeouts, you can't anticipate more than a buck of value each month given Bradford's general history. Only target him in leagues where you need to improve your ERA and WHIP.

Today's Fantasy Rx: As evidenced by the teams of the relievers discussed above, the Mets and Dodgers remain superb breeding grounds for low-risk relievers. Along with the Padres, these three clubs possess the best combination of pitcher-friendly parks and strong defenses capable of producing low ERAs almost regardless of a given reliever's skill. Generally first look at pitchers from these teams when seeking any kind of roster filler.