Owners who have followed the strange career of Mark Ellis know that the A's second baseman has a good season only every other year. Ever since his promising rookie season in 2002, Ellis has alternated years with an OPS around .700 with years where his OPS has been over .775. Last season was one of the good ones, so I guess that would explain why Ellis is currently owned in only 51 percent of the leagues on CBSSports.com.

Those in the market for a second baseman might want to look at Ellis' actual numbers so far in '08. His current .770 OPS is only seven points lower than last year's, and all signs point to an uptick in his batting average. In past seasons, Ellis has shown that he has the power and speed to turn 30 percent or more of his balls in play into base hits, despite his flyball tendencies that would normally keep H/BIP down. His current rate of 26 percent should increase, and his average, runs and RBI will likely rise along with it.

Maybe there's some bad H/BIP karma permeating the Bay Area, because Giants closer Brian Wilson is also getting a raw deal. Despite the fact that Wilson has better K/9, BB/9 and HR/9 ratios than George Sherrill, he is on a roster in only 77 percent of our leagues, while Sherrill has a home in 91 percent. Wilson's 34 percent H/BIP rate and 3.68 ERC (as compared to his actual 4.40 ERA) make him one of the unluckiest pitchers in the majors right now.

While Fantasy owners have not welcomed Wilson with open arms, they have been all too generous in inviting Brett Myers to play for their team. He is using up a roster spot in 86 percent of leagues on CBSSports.com, though most of those are reserve spots. Nonetheless, owners should be aware that he has come to his 5.51 ERA and 1.50 WHIP honestly, as his 30 percent H/BIP and 5.71 ERC attest. You would actually be better off getting your strikeouts from Gil Meche, who has better overall Fantasy and skill stats and is currently owned in only 54 percent of leagues.

While not as popular with owners as Myers, Khalil Greene is still rostered in 58 percent of our leagues, despite being one of the least productive regular shortstops this year. A few weeks back, I suggested that a turnaround was possible for Greene, because he has demonstrated a higher level of skill in the past. At some point, though, it's time to cut your losses, and Greene is showing no signs of improving his power or contact hitting.

All statistics below are for season-to-date performances through Saturday, June 21.

'Lucky' Hitters H/BIP RC/27 'Lucky' Pitchers H/BIP ERC
Ramon Vazquez, 3B, Texas 39% 7.9 Justin Masterson, SP, Boston 19% 2.92
Jeff Baker, 2B, Colorado 39% 6.9 Gavin Floyd, SP, Chicago White Sox 20% 3.09
Jesus Flores, C, Washington 38% 6.9 Ryan Dempster, SP, Chicago Cubs 22% 2.56
Brandon Boggs, OF, Texas 37% 4.8 Francisco Cordero, RP, Cincinnati 23% 2.83
Fred Lewis, OF, San Francisco 37% 6.2 Kevin Gregg, RP, Florida 24% 2.84
Johnny Damon, OF, N.Y. Yankees 36% 7.4 Joe Saunders, SP, L.A. Angels 24% 3.00
Mike Aviles, SS, Kansas City 35% 8.4 Seth McClung, RP, Milwaukee 25% 3.35
Ryan Sweeney, OF, Oakland 35% 5.0 John Lackey, SP, L.A. Angels 25% 2.20
Elijah Dukes, OF, Washington 35% 4.9 Scott Olsen, SP, Florida 25% 3.63
Julio Lugo, SS, Boston 34% 4.4 Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP, Boston 26% 3.67
Unlucky' Hitters H/BIP RC/27 'Unlucky' Pitchers H/BIP ERC
Cody Ross, OF, Florida 19% 4.6 Rafael Betancourt, RP, Cleveland 38% 5.39
Omar Vizquel, SS, San Francisco 20% 1.8 Shawn Hill, SP, Washington 36% 5.57
Mike Napoli, C, L.A. Angels 20% 4.5 Andrew Miller, SP, Florida 35% 4.76
Kenji Johjima, C, Seattle 23% 2.5 Jarrod Washburn, SP, Seattle 35% 5.79
Mike Jacobs, 1B, Florida 24% 4.7 Andy Sonnanstine, SP, Tampa Bay 34% 4.48
Robinson Cano, 2B, N.Y. Yankees 24% 2.7 Randy Johnson, SP, Arizona 34% 4.59
Adrian Beltre, 3B, Seattle 25% 4.9 A.J. Burnett, SP, Toronto 34% 4.60
David Dellucci, OF, Cleveland 25% 3.6 Brian Wilson, RP, San Francisco 34% 3.68
Melvin Mora, 3B, Baltimore 26% 3.8 Jonathan Broxton, RP, L.A. Dodgers 34% 3.25
Mark Ellis, 2B, Oakland 26% 5.12 Javier Vazquez, SP, Chicago White Sox 34% 4.10
Good stats, good skills - hitters H/BIP RC/27 Good stats, good skills - pitchers H/BIP ERC
Carlos Quentin, OF, Chicago White Sox 28% 7.5 Damaso Marte, RP, Pittsburgh 30% 2.33
Conor Jackson, 1B, Arizona 31% 7.0 Jorge Campillo, RP, Atlanta 29% 2.49
Ian Kinsler, 2B, Texas 33% 6.9 Ervin Santana, SP, L.A. Angels 27% 2.51
Luke Scott, OF, Baltimore 29% 6.4 Brian Fuentes, RP, Colorado 29% 2.55
Randy Winn, OF, San Francisco 33% 6.3 John Danks, SP, Chicago White Sox 29% 3.17
Poor stats, poor skills - hitters H/BIP RC/27 Poor stats, poor skills - pitchers H/BIP ERC
Khalil Greene, SS, San Diego 29% 3.4 Brett Myers, SP, Philadelphia 30% 5.71
Matt Treanor, C, Florida 33% 3.4 Oliver Perez, SP, N.Y. Mets 28% 5.57
Brendan Harris, SS, Minnesota 32% 3.4 Kyle Kendrick, SP, Philadelphia 30% 5.44
Brad Wilkerson, OF, Toronto 32% 3.6 R.A. Dickey, RP, Seattle 32% 4.95
Jack Wilson, SS, Pittsburgh 32% 3.6 Luke Hochevar, SP, Kansas City 31% 4.92
Glossary
Runs Created per 27 Outs (RC/27) -- An estimate of how many runs a lineup would produce per 27 outs if a particular player occupied each spot in the order; ex. the RC/27 for Miguel Cabrera would predict the productivity of a lineup where Cabrera (or his statistical equal) batted in all nine spots; created by Bill James
Component ERA (ERC) -- An estimate of a what a pitcher's ERA would be if it were based solely on actual pitching performance; created by Bill James
Base Hits per Balls in Play (H/BIP) -- The percentage of balls in play (at bats minus strikeouts and home runs) that are base hits; research by Voros McCracken and others has established that this rate is largely random and has a norm of approximately 30%
Isolated Power -- The difference between slugging percentage and batting average; created by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth
Walk Rate -- Walks / (at bats + walks)
Whiff Rate -- Strikeouts / at bats

Al Melchior was recently a Fantasy columnist and data analyst for Baseball HQ and will be providing advice columns for CBSSports.com. Click here to send him a question. Please put "Melchior" in the subject field.