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 25th. 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)
ABC - Matt Clement(02553)
A - Erik Bedard(02442)
Felix Hernandez(4555)

23abcxyz - Mariano Rivera(33554433434)
3ax - Arthur Rhodes(4433443435)
ax - Huston Street(34553444443)

With Halladay and Rhodes both potentially out for the season and Bedard appearing quite inconsistent, the remaining four players here stand out rather dramatically. Clement's upside makes him a superb target in any league, Rivera and Street easily rank as the best AL closers, and then Felix Hernandez, while likely not available in any deal, probably qualifies as the best pitcher in the game right now. Only the dual pressures of pitch counts and avoiding injury might prevent him from continuing to dominate the league as he combines Johan Santana's dominance, Eric Gagne's command, and Derek Lowe's ground-fly rate in the finest skill set of any active pitcher.

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

While we planned to add Todd Jones and a starting pitcher, our gigantic need for more offense instead requires the purchase of David Wright with Jones. Our pitching remains relatively fine, and adding another IF alternative simply offers more upside than any available SP.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Fri:KC(M.Wood).
Johan Santana: Sun:@TEX(C.Young))
Pedro Martinez: No start.
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@LAD(Ed.Jackson?)
Roger Clemens: Sun:@LAD(J.Weaver)
Ben Sheets: Fri:ATL(Ho.Ramirez).
Jake Peavy: No start.
Chris Carpenter: No start.
Dontrelle Willis: Sat:@CHC(G.Maddux)
A.J. Burnett: No start.
Josh Beckett: Sun:@CHC(C.Zambrano)
Miguel Batista: 3 Home vs. CLE.

Selecting Randy, Oswalt, Clemens, Sheets, Willis, and Penny easily looks like our best move.

Jones then subs for KRod while replacing Mora and Crawford with Wright and Giles lets us slide under the cap. Morneau, Iguchi, Atkins, Podsednik, and Holliday stay benched.

Rotohelp.com(8th lg; 255th overall)
Week 21b: August 26-August 28

 
C	Victor Martinez		860 
C	Joe Mauer		440
1B	Albert Pujols		1930 
1B	Mark Teixeira		1310 
2B	Brian Roberts		960
2B	Chase Utley		480 
3B	Troy Glaus		830
3B	David Wright		810
SS	Miguel Tejada		1800 
SS	Jose Reyes		850 
OF	Jim Edmonds		1250
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110
OF	Adam Dunn		1110
OF	Jason Bay		820 
OF	Kevin Mench		580
UT	Marcus Giles		950
UT	Travis Hafner		810  

SP	Roy Oswalt		1320
SP	Jake Peavy		1030
SP	Dontrelle Willis	870
SP	A.J. Burnett		830 
SP	Josh Beckett		820
SP	Miguel Batista		840  
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270 
RP	B.J. Ryan		950 
RP	Todd Jones		510

Total Salary for Week 21b: 	29900

Today's Fantasy Rx: Seattle again promoted journeyman right-hander Jeff Harris yesterday, and while the 31-year-old lacks any significant long-term upside, he might help in any reasonably deep league. He posted several years with impressive command marks as a starter in non-affiliated leagues, and after a decent couple months in San Antonio, he compiled a 5-2 record and a 2.78 ERA on a 56:17 K:BB in 68 IP over 9 GS(16G) with 50 H and 8 HR for AAA Tacoma(PCL). Including last night's impressive outing, he now owns a 1.69 ERA on a 10:6 K:BB in 21.1 IP over 2 GS(4G) with 14 H and 3 HR for Seattle. While his weak dominance obviously limits even his immediate potential, Harris possesses sufficient skill to earn my recommendation for anyone looking for a deep sleeper to improve your qualitative stats.