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 22nd. 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(55544)
AX - Bartolo Colon(33244)
AX - Jeremy Bonderman(25335)
AX - Rich Harden(43440)
A - Erik Bedard(55452)

2acxyz - Mike Timlin(4254444243)
3ax - Arthur Rhodes(3344454432)
abcxyz - Brian Shouse(5444434224)

Another week of substantial movement as Freddy Garcia, C.C. Sabathia, Bruce Chen, Kyle Farnsworth, and David Riske all dropped from the top ranking. With only Brian Shouse joining the remaining seven pitchers, we return to the standard number of hurlers here for most weeks of the current season. Unfortunately, despite consistently excellent skills since joining the Rangers in 2003, Shouse remains slightly too volatile for me to recommend as anything more than temporary roster filler.

Rhodes' recent trend also concerns me, but his overall performance still makes him too valuable for anyone to dump him at this time.

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 cap crunch necessitates a roster change, so we'll add Atkins, who continues to excel at home, while finally dropping his teammate Barmes.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Sun:NYM(K.Benson)
Johan Santana: Sat:@MIL(T.Ohka)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(M.Mussina)
Roy Oswalt: Fri:TEX(Ric.Rodriguez)
Jake Peavy: Sat:SEA(A.Sele)
A.J. Burnett: Sun:@TB(S.McClung)
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at WAS.

No starts: Clemens, Sheets, Mulder, Willis, Beckett

Regardless of the end of the Curse, we're not running Pedro against his daddy. The other five starts seem solid, and deploying Batista in a great pitcher's park looks good to us.

Atkins subs for the slumping Mora with the Rockies home as Victor Martinez, Iguchi, Edmonds, and Holliday continue sitting.

Rotohelp.com(2nd lg; 86th overall)
Week 12b: June 24-June 26

 
C	Joe Mauer		440
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	Miguel Cabrera		1110
OF	Adam Dunn		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Kevin Mench		580 
OF	Jeremy Reed		400 
UT	Travis Hafner		810
UT	Justin Morneau		680 

SP	Randy Johnson		1980
SP	Johan Santana		1710 
SP	Roy Oswalt		1320
SP	Jake Peavy		1030 
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 12b: 	29660

Today's Fantasy Rx: Yesterday's promotion of Sean Douglass to the Tigers' rotation presents an intriguing option to savvy roto owners. With a 9-1 record and 2.87 ERA on a 76:27 K:BB in 81.2 IP over 14 GS with 61 H and 5 HR for AAA Toledo(IL), he clearly merits another shot in the majors. Control problems generally destroyed his value in his previous big league trials, but with across-the-board solid skills and a somewhat forgiving home park, Douglass could pay definite dividends to most AL owners. Don't let a potential problem start Saturday in Arizona scare you from a minimal ante here unless a disaster results in an unfortunate demotion for Douglass.