Today's Fantasy Rx

Welcome to our weekly LPR rankings, our primary method of identifying highly skilled and consistently effective pitchers. While we have not changed this system since last season, feel free to refer to this key for a complete description of the codes. We have included the five most recent 2007 QA scores for each starter, along with the 10 most recent QA scores for each reliever, tabulating all data through May 16th. Pitchers with no QA scores have not pitched this year, so do not roster any of them unless you see someone ready to return to the majors from the minors or the DL.

1
3ACX - Josh Beckett(44540)
ABCXYZ - Kelvim Escobar(44440)
AX - Gil Meche(34545)
AX - Joe Blanton(33455)
AX - Daisuke Matsuzaka(44234)
AX - Justin Verlander(30435)
A - Javier Vazquez(44351)

Matsuzaka, Verlander, and Escobar kick up here while Halladay drops down just as he hits the DL with appendicitis. The three new additions all possess the skill sets to remain at this level all year long, though given everyone's last month of work, Meche and Blanton remain the safest bets in the league.

2
3BCYZ - Roger Clemens
3BX - C.C. Sabathia(33334)
ABCXYZ - Johan Santana(54234)
ABCX - Jeremy Bonderman(34434)
ACX - John Lackey(34545)
C - Jose Contreras(32434)

We're seeing welcome growth from Lackey, thoroughly reversing his fortunes after a surprisingly slow start.

3abcxyz - Mariano Rivera(4534544535)
3abcyz - Justin Duchscherer(2344443251)
abcxyz - Chad Bradford(3454534535)
abcxyz - Akinori Otsuka(4235445333)
CZaby - Hector Carrasco(1514435202)
abcxy - J.J. Putz(4324443535)
abcyz - Scot Shields(3433524234)
BYby - Francisco Liriano
bcyz - Mike MacDougal(3330342024)
aby - Dennys Reyes(3401445351)
bxy - Alan Embree(3332343423)
by - Brandon League
x - Mike Myers(3032323444)

3
ACXYZ - Roy Halladay(35523)
AXZ - Bartolo Colon(34434)
BCZ - Felix Hernandez(5400)
Bcz - Julian Tavarez(30343)
CZ - Andy Pettitte(30433)
C - Matt Clement
Y - Kevin Millwood(22420)

. abcxyz - Huston Street(5335344245)
bcz - Todd Jones(4244244532)
x - Aaron Fultz(4003445333)

A
BXby - Fausto Carmona(44444)
BCZ - A.J. Burnett(41445)
BC - Erik Bedard(05545)
XY - Dan Haren(54444)
XY - James Shields(55433)
X - Daniel Cabrera(44324)
Jake Westbrook(40450)
Nate Robertson(44204)
Chad Gaudin(45050)
Jarrod Washburn(44215)
Jered Weaver(03245)

While Carmona stays on fire, his lack of strikeouts limits his value to some extent, making Burnett, Bedard, and Haren better bets for now.

B
XY - Curt Schilling(34333)
Y - Mike Mussina(00431)
Cha Seung Baek(04033)
Joe Saunders(342)

C
Z - Rich Harden(535)
Jae Seo(20204)

abx - Scott Downs(4454433244)
Victor Zambrano(153323)

X
Odalis Perez(43335)
Chien-ming Wang(32434)
Kameron Loe(43053)

Y
Luke Hudson(0)

a
Shaun Marcum(3)

bcxyz - Francisco Rodriguez(5424554354)
bcxyz - Joe Nathan(3453453355)
bcxyz - Bobby Jenks(3433525433)
bcyz - Roberto Hernandez(4354243344)
bcyz - Juan Rincon(4244443303)
bxy - Jon Papelbon(4344450354)
bxy - C.J. Wilson(4543432424)
bxy - Jesse Crain(3344535142)
cxz - Al Reyes(5454343344)
cxz - Rafael Betancourt(2453444325)
xyz - Justin Speier(5345335345)
bx - Tom Mastny(4534425224)
by - Pat Neshek(5334443541)
xy - J.C. Romero(4324445334)
xz - Chris Ray(3514543342)
b - Shawn Camp(2431444322)
x - Hideki Okajima(5155554353)
x - Jeremy Accardo(3345535553)
x - Chris Bootcheck(4332443453)
x - Jamie Walker(4403553143)
x - David Aardsma(4552443323)
x - Jay Marshall(3155523333)
z - Jason Frasor(4245213153)
Matt Thornton(3223454455)
Matt Guerrier(2424234455)
Danys Baez(2434534015)
Brendan Donnelly(4451333402)
Kyle Snyder(2342424433)

After sporadically excellent work a year ago, Jeremy Accardo once again looks like he possesses the skills necessary to hold the Jays' closer job indefinitely. Another name to watch is Matt Thornton, who may have replaced both Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma as Chicago's top set-up man and Jenks backup.

b
y - Joe Kennedy(32423)

cxyz - Kyle Farnsworth(4334333342)
cyz - Matt J. Miller
xyz - Fernando Rodney(2534343443)
cy - Scott Williamson(245545)
cz - Kiko Calero(3433233232)
y - Javier Lopez(4334453)
y - Scott Feldman(3524432402)
y - Wes Littleton(4)
y - Jason Standridge(121)
y - Brian Sikorski
y - Joe Nelson
y - Jon Huber
z - Mike Burns
Luis Vizcaino(4221441334)
Fernando Cabrera(4254332101)
Joel Pineiro(0343324332)
Rafael Perez(4)
Craig Breslow

Expect the underrated Williamson to bolster some competitor's bullpen for the second half, making him an intriguing free agent target within the next month before his inevitable dispatch somewhere like Cleveland or Detroit.

c
xz - George Sherrill(3334433435)
yz - Mike Timlin(233324534)
x - Bobby Seay(3534333532)
z - Eric Gagne(5344443)
z - David Riske(3243442533)
z - Jay Witasick(5533353251)
z - Chris Reitsma(1421333343)
z - Tim Byrdak(4)
z - Ron Villone
Jose Mesa(252245330)
Octavio Dotel

x
y - Joaquin Benoit(4343134323)
Brian Bruney(3543441332)
John Parrish(3333343432)
Sean Henn(4333413332)

y
Brian Burres(033)

Joe Borowski(3533524251)
Sean Green(324)
Craig Hansen
Zach Miner

z
Manny Delcarmen
Ron Flores

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 2007.
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 2006.
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 2005.

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 the following skill qualifications: K>=IP-2, BB<=IP/3, H<=IP, HR<=1, and G-F>=1.00. Any starter who does not reach at least one 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 the following skill qualifications: K>=IP, BB=0, H<=IP, HR=0, and G-F>=1.00. Any reliever who does not reach at least one 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.

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.

A - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2007 starts
B - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2006 starts
C - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2005 starts

X - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2007 starts
Y - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2006 starts
Z - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2005 starts

a - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2007 relief outings
b - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2006 relief outings
c - QA score of 4 or 5 in at least 50% of 2005 relief outings

x - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2007 relief outings
y - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2006 relief outings
z - QA score below 3 in no more than 20% of 2005 relief outings

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

Internet Challenge

With Beckett heading to the DL, we need a sixth pitcher. After considering several solid starters, including Tim Hudson, Justin Verlander, John Maine, Javier Vazquez, Brad Penny, and Chris Young, we settled on Greg Maddux since he enjoys roughly the best schedule of the group and appears a far safer buy than Young. As we don't want to dump Harden at this time, nor even the injured Rocco Baldelli, we're cutting J.D. Drew, since he simply doesn't appear worth the salary this year, especially when we expect Baldelli to rebound after two weeks on the sidelines.

SP(6)
Johan Santana: No start.
Roy Oswalt: No start.
Ben Sheets: No start.
Jake Peavy: No start.
Brandon Webb: No start.
Greg Maddux: Sat:@SEA(Ho.Ramirez)
Josh Beckett: No start(DL).
Daisuke Matsuzaka: Sat:ATL(J.Smoltz)
Dan Haren: Sat:SF(M.Cain)
Jon Papelbon: 3 Home vs ATL.
Rich Harden: No start(DL)
Felix Hernandez: Sun:SD(J.Germano)
Matt Cain: Sat:@OAK(D.Haren)

We'll take our six active pitchers and then flip Chris Iannetta for Josh Bard. With a ton of cap room remaining, we'll sub Pujols for Bill Hall and then leave Baldelli, Ryan Howard, and Delmon Young on the bench since despite our available cap space, we prefer this lineup to any alternative that doesn't involve purchasing Vlad, a move we're not ready to make at this time.

Rotohelp.com(16th lg; 384th overall)
Week 7b: May 18-May 20

 
C	Brian McCann		880 
C	Chris Iannetta		340
1B	Travis Hafner		1380
1B	Prince Fielder		910
2B	Ian Kinsler		630
2B	Kelly Johnson		400 
3B	Garrett Atkins		1150
3B	Mark Teahen		750
SS	Jose Reyes		1610 
SS	Hanley Ramirez		1100
OF	Matt Holliday		1410
OF	Manny Ramirez		1390
OF	Alex Rios		1000 
OF	Willy Taveras		860
OF	Barry Bonds		830
OF	Shane Victorino		560 
DH	Albert Pujols		2050
DH	David Wright		1550 
 
SP	Greg Maddux		1040
SP	Daisuke Matsuzaka	950 
SP	Dan Haren		940 
SP	Matt Cain		840
SP	Felix Hernandez		840
SP	Jon Papelbon		900
RP	Francisco Cordero	1260
RP	Takashi Saito		1200
RP	Ryan Dempster		1130
RP	Joe Borowski		1110

Total Week 7b Salary:		29010

Today's Fantasy Rx: Rushed to Double-A less than a year after signing with Toronto, Jesse Litsch struggled throughout he first half of 2006, eventually returning to A+ Dunedin(FSL), where he posted an 81:8 K:BB in 89 IP over the balance of the season. This spring he returned to AA New Hampshire(EL) and simply dominated for the last month, posting a 5-1 record and 0.96 ERA on a 28:7 K:BB in 37.2 IP over 6 GS with 22 H, 2 HR, and a 1.49 ERA. Promoted for a spot start against the Orioles on Tuesday, he dominated the punchless Baltimore offense, only falling one out shy of a complete game. However, despite a dynamic 21-2 G-F with only four hits and three walks allowed, his single strikeout creates a definite concern for me, especially since he pitches in Philadelphia on Sunday. Of course, since Litsch then should draw the Twins, White Sox, Rays, Giants, and Nationals, he certainly could surprise everyone with more solid work. Definitely consider more than a token FAAB bid if you don't object to gambles and can avoid deploying him this weekend.