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 11th. 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)
ABCXYZ - Johan Santana(44543)
AX - Jeremy Bonderman(45144)
AX - Rich Harden(53354)
A - Erik Bedard(44302)

23abcxyz - Mariano Rivera(45552533554)
3ax - Arthur Rhodes(4433443435)
abcxyz - Brian Shouse(3552245323)
ax - Huston Street(3434345534)
x - Miguel Batista(3234553343)

Miguel Batista finally earns a spot here with a few very solid outings this week, and if he can maintain a respectable strikeout rate, he shouldn't drop any time soon. Of course, his relative lack of dominance still limits his upside, but his overall fantasy output remains fairly strong despite his somewhat unimpressive save total.

The only other movement here involves Bonderman and Harden replacing Clement and Colon, which nicely mirrors the pattern of the last couple months.

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: No start.
Johan Santana: Fri:@OAK(D.Haren)
Pedro Martinez: Sun:@LAD(B.Penny)
Roy Oswalt: Fri:PIT(Z.Duke)
Roger Clemens: Sat:PIT(K.Wells)
Ben Sheets: No start.
Mark Mulder: No start.
Jake Peavy: Fri:PHI(J.Lieber)
Dontrelle Willis: Fri:SF(N.Lowry)
A.J. Burnett: Sun:SF(B.Hennessey)
Josh Beckett: Sat:SF(B.Tomko)
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at BAL.

A questionable set for Batista, coupled with a particularly intriguing grouping of Peavy, two Astros, and three Marlins, gives us a solid and inexpensive rotation as we see no need to run a risky Pedro or deploy Santana against someone on a nine-game winning streak.

The extra cap room allows Mora and Iguchi back into the lineup, placing Morneau and Reed on the bench next to Mauer, Hafner, Utley, and Mench.

Rotohelp.com(6th lg; 185th overall)
Week 19b: August 12-August 14

 
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	Carl Crawford		1560
OF	Jim Edmonds		1250
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110
OF	Adam Dunn		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Matt Holliday		630 
UT	Melvin Mora		1270
UT	Tadahito Iguchi		750

SP	Roy Oswalt		1320
SP	Roger Clemens		1280 
SP	Jake Peavy		1030 
SP	Dontrelle Willis	870
SP	A.J. Burnett		830 
SP	Josh Beckett		820 
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270 
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	1250
RP	B.J. Ryan		950 

Total Salary for Week 19b: 	29950

Today's Fantasy Rx: With Mike Cameron likely out for the season after yesterday's brutal collision with Carlos Beltran, expect minor upwards ERA creep of most Mets' pitchers due to the reduced outfield defense. At least Victor Diaz might improve on Cameron's performance at the plate, but consider shopping any of your Mets' hurlers that lack strong strikeout rates.