The Big Puma is now a Bronx Bomber — the New York Yankees acquired Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros in exchange for RHP Mark Melancon and INF Jimmy Paredes. Berkman, 34, will take over as the Yankees’ DH. The switch-hitter is owed a little more than $7 million for the rest of the 2010 season, and the Astros will pick up $4 million of that salary. Berkman has a $15 million club option for 2011, with a $2 million buyout.

The Astros’ first-round pick in the 1997 draft began the year on the DL following surgery to remove loose cartilage from his left knee. With a .242/.372/.436 line and a .356 wOBA in 358 plate appearances, Berkman has fallen short of his pre-season projections — a .381 wOBA from CHONE and a .397 wOBA from ZiPS. Lance is still working the count exceptionally well, drawing a walk 16.8% of the time and swinging at just 21.2% of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone (28.9% MLB average). However, his BABIP (.279) and power (.191 ISO) are down.

Berkman’s line drive rate (16.7%) is three percentage points below his average since the 2002 season, though it’s hard to say whether that’s an actual change or a scoring issue. His 14.6% infield fly rate is higher than his 11.2% average since ’02 and the 7-8% MLB average. But even with those figures, Berkman’s expected BABIP (xBABIP) is .316. That’s awfully close to his career .318 average. The chances that he remains a .240ish hitter are low.

As for the power, Berkman’s hitting more ground balls than usual. His GB% is 47.4%, his highest mark dating back to ’02 (42.2% average over that time period). Lance’s 15.9% home run/fly ball rate is his lowest mark since 2003. When he has gone yard, it hasn’t gone as far as usual.

Hit Tracker Online keeps track of a players’ average speed off the bat on homers, as well as the “Standard Distance” of dingers. Standard distance “factors out the influence of wind, temperature and altitude, and is thus the best way of comparing home runs hit under a variety of different conditions.” According to Hit Tracker, Lance’s speed off the bat on HR in 2010 is 100.7 MPH (103.5 MPH average for major leaguers), and his standard distance is 380.5 feet (393.8 MLB average). In 2009, Berkman’s speed of the bat was 104.5 MPH and his standard distance was 403. In ’08, those figures were 103.7 MPH and 397.2 feet.

Lance Berkman’s days as a .400+ wOBA force are probably over, but he’s still a highly useful hitter. ZiPS projects him to bat .267/384/.489 with a .383 wOBA from here on out. He’ll see regular ABs in New York, though there’s some thought that he’ll occasionally sit vs. lefties in favor of Marcus Thames — Berkman has a .343 wOBA against LHP in 1,344 PA since ’02, while Thames has a .361 mark in 755 PA. If Berkman’s available in your league (his ownership rate is 74% in Yahoo leagues), he’s worth a roster spot. The Puma’s performance should pick up, though not to the level of his glory days.

For a player taken with the 13th overall pick in the 2008 draft, Brett Wallace sure has spent a lot of time packing suitcases. The Arizona State Sun Devil star was originally selected by the Cardinals, but he was shipped to the A’s as part of a trade for Matt Holliday last July. Oakland then swapped him to the Blue Jays this past off-season in a rare prospect challenge trade, with outfielder Michael Taylor going to the green and gold. And yesterday, the Astros acquired Wallace in exchange for Anthony Gose, a 19-year-old OF prospect just picked up in the Roy Oswalt deal with the Phillies. In Houston, “The Walrus” looks like the heir apparent to Lance Berkman at first base.

Wallace was a third baseman in college, and he mostly manned the hot corner in the minors up until this season. But scouts panned his work there (Baseball America said he “lacks the agility and athleticism for the position”), and Sean Smith’s Total Zone rated him as a poor fielder. The stoutly-built 23-year-old shifted to first base with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in 2010. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Wallace’s value lies entirely in the quality of his bat. So, how good is that bat?

Here’s what Baseball America had to say about his offensive ability prior to the ’08 draft:

Many see the best natural hitter in the West. Wallace has a strong swing with above-average bat speed; his swing path stays in the zone a long time and he has outstanding plate discipline…Those that don’t care for him cite his body and the short careers of players built similarly, such as Bob Hamelin. Wallace’s bat should get him drafted in the first round regardless, and most scouts give him at least above-average raw power grades.

Wallace hit the ground running in pro ball in 2008, putting up a .337/.427/.530 line in 234 plate appearances spent mostly in the Low-A Midwest League (he also logged some time in the Double-A Texas League). The lefty hitter walked in 8.1% of his PA, punched out 19.3% and had a .193 ISO. Wallace didn’t draw a ton of walks and he did benefit from a .400+ BABIP, but it was still a quality debut.

Since then, Wallace has hit well, though it would be difficult to say that he has lived up to the “hitting machine” label often bestowed upon him. Last season, he batted a combined .293/.367/.455 in 600 PA taken in Texas League and the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (for the affiliates of both the A’s and Cardinals). He worked a free pass just 7.8%, while striking out 21.8% and posting a .162 ISO. In 2010, Wallace has hit .301/.359/.509 in 423 PCL plate appearances. Wallace has walked 6.4%, whiffed 21.6% and holds a .208 ISO. It’s worth noting that Cashman Field, home of the Las Vegas 51’s, is a fantastic offensive environment. According to Minor League Splits, Wallace’s park-adjusted line is .287/.349/.479.

Considering Wallace’s limited positional value, I think it’s fair to say that his lumber to date has been somewhat underwhelming. Though BA once praised his plate approach, Wallace hasn’t drawn all that many walks. And that above-average raw power hasn’t really been on full display. It’s not that he projects poorly in the majors, but his secondary skills don’t exactly stand out a position with a cumulative .270/.355/.460 triple-slash in 2010. Wallace could become an average starter at first base, perhaps a tick above that if you’re optimistic. But I don’t see a future offensive juggernaut here.

As part of the four-player deal that sent long-time ace Roy Oswalt to the City of Brotherly Love, the Houston Astros picked up 27-year-old lefty J.A. Happ. Philly’s third-round pick in the 2004 draft has missed most of the season while rehabbing from a left forearm strain, but he returned to action recently and he’ll make his Astros debut tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers. Is Happ, under team control through 2014, a good bet for long-term success? Let’s take a closer look.

A 6-6, 200 pound product of Northwestern University, Happ has punched out 9.4 batters per nine innings in 281.2 career frames at the Triple-A Level, with 4 BB/9 and 1 HR/9. According to Minor League Splits, Happ’s park-and-luck-adjusted FIP in the International League is 3.76.

With those sort of numbers, you might think that Happ’s a power pitcher. That’s not the case, though — he sits 89-90 MPH with his fastball, supplementing the pitch with a low-80’s slider/cutter, a low-80’s changeup and a scarcely used low-70’s curveball. Prior to the 2009 season, Baseball America mentioned that Happ’s heater “gets on top of hitters quickly” and that he “has deception in his delivery.” However, BA also warned that “Happ lacks a standout pitch and doesn’t figure to get all those strikeouts on fastballs as easily in the majors as he did in Triple-A.” Happ’s high heat in the minors produced lots of balls in the air (40.8 GB%), so concerns over homers were voiced by BA as well.

Happ has thrown 217 major league innings to this point, the majority of which (187.1) coming out of the starting rotation. His ERA looks fantastic, at 3.11. His peripheral stats, by contrast, are more run-of-the-mill. J.A. has K’d 6.59 hitters per nine, issuing 3.48 BB/9. Happ has been a flyball-centric hurler, getting grounders just 36.5% of the time. There’s more than a one-and-a-half run gap between Happ’s actual ERA and his xFIP, which is 4.65.

That huge split is partially predicated on a low BABIP (.273). While more harmful overall because of a much higher slugging percentage, fly balls do have a lower BABIP than ground balls. So, it’s possible that Happ will post a slightly lower BABIP than most pitchers. A mark in the .270’s is pushing it, though — ZiPS projects a .291 rest-of-season BABIP for J.A.

Another, larger reason for the ERA/xFIP gap is an incredibly high rate of stranding base runners — 84.3%. For comparison, the MLB average is in the 70-72% range. You’d be hard-pressed to find evidence that he’s pitching exceptionally well with ducks on the pond, as Happ’s career xFIP with the bases empty is 4.54 and his career xFIP with men on base is 4.77. The big difference? his BABIP with the bases cleared is .330, and with men on, it’s just .202. For comparison, the NL average BABIP with runners on base has ranged from .301 to .306 in recent seasons.

As an extreme fly ball pitcher with average control and modest stuff, Happ looks like more of a decent big league arm than a prime fantasy target. While Minute Maid Park isn’t quite as homer-happy as Citizen’s Bank Park, it also inflates dinger production — six percent for lefties, and 18 percent for righties aiming for the Crawford Boxes. Happ’s a decent pickup in NL-only leagues. If you’re expecting a top-shelf starter, though, you’re going to be disappointed.

The Baltimore Orioles are in the process of breaking in a cadre of a highly-acclaimed pitching prospects. Brian Matusz in entrenched in the big league rotation, while Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta have struggled to translate their success in the minors to the highest level. Another blue-chip arm may soon make his major league debut — Zachary Britton could bump the oft-battered Brad Bergesen out of the rotation at some point. Even if Britton doesn’t get the call later this year, he’s a vital part of Baltimore’s rebuilding effort. Let’s examine his long-term value.

The O’s took Britton out of a Texas prep school in the third round of the 2006 draft. The 6-foot-3 lefty added lots of zip to his fastball during his senior year — Baseball America noted that his heater climbed from 86-87 MPH to 92-93 MPH — and he also possessed what BA called a “power curve.” Britton’s velocity did decline during his last few starts leading up to the draft, though. He tossed 34 innings in the Rookie-Level Appalachian League that summer, and he struggled to control the zone (5.6 K/9, 5.3 BB/9, 5.41 FIP). After the season, BA said that Britton sat 86-90 MPH in the Appy League, though they predicted he’d crack the 90’s more frequently as his 180 pound frame filled out.

Baltimore took a cautious approach with Britton in 2007, assigning him to the short-season New York-Penn League. He had 6.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 0.1 HR/9 in 63.2 IP. According to Minor League Splits, Britton’s park-and-luck-adjusted FIP was 3.95, and he generated ground balls at an impressive clip (64.5 GB%). Baseball America said that he showed “the live low-90’s fastball that made him a third-round pick,” while also developing a sharp slider in the instructional league.

In 2008, Britton enjoyed a breakout season in the Low-A South Atlantic League. Pitching 147.1 frames, he used his sinker/slider combo to strike out seven batters per nine innings, hand out 3 BB/9 and give up 0.5 homers per nine. Britton’s adjusted FIP was 3.92, and he maintained his Brandon Webb-like ground ball rate (63.8 GB%). The next year in the High-A Carolina League, Britton whiffed 8.4 per nine, walked 3.5 and coughed up 0.4 HR/9 in 140 innings. Scorching the earth with a 65 GB%, Britton posted a 3.37 adjusted FIP.

Leading up to 2010, Britton earned plenty of superlatives from scouting types. Baseball America named him the number 63 prospect in the game. John Sickels graded him as a B prospect. “Love the grounders, solid strikeout rate, I’m pro-Britton,” said Sickels. ESPN’s Keith Law was an even bigger fan, ranking Britton 25th on his top 100 list. Law liked Britton’s solid punch out rates and extreme ground ball tendencies, and noted the development of the lefty’s changeup:

Britton is a true sinker/slider pitcher with enough velocity to work as a starter and a potential out pitch in the slider to miss bats when he’s not getting ground balls. His sinker has solid-average velocity with legitimate plus sink, and he’ll flash a four-seamer up to 94. His slider — although not as consistent — flashes plus, and he’s willing and able to backfoot it to right-handed hitters, then throwing the sinker away to get a weak grounder or just a swing and miss. His changeup improved over the course of the season to the point that it’s an average pitch or better, eliminating a major concern for sinker/slider guys — a typical weakness against opposite-side hitters…He would slot in very nicely as a No. 2 starter behind Brian Matusz, or as an outstanding No. 3 behind Matusz and Chris Tillman.

Britton began the year with the Bowie Baysox of the Double-A Eastern League, where he posted rates of 7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and 0.4 HR/9 in 87 innings. He continued to induce grounders like few others (64.1 GB%) while compiling a 3.44 adjusted FIP. Bumped up to the Triple-A International League, Britton has 5.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and nary a homer surrendered in 27.2 IP. The 22-year-old is — you guessed it — burning lots of worms with a 72.2 GB%, and his adjusted FIP sits at 3.47.

The chances of Britton getting ample major league innings this season are slim — the O’s aren’t playing for anything of consequence, and the southpaw is a little more than 30 frames away from his previous career high workload. In keeper leagues, though, Britton is an intriguing option. He’s not going to post elite K rates, but that’s mostly because he’s too busy getting batters to smack the ball into the dirt. Britton misses a solid number of bats, and his control has improved enough that it doesn’t figure to hinder his development. While Tillman and Arrieta get more attention, Britton might just be the better long-term buy.

Power. Patience. Speed. During the course of his career, B.J. Upton has shown more tools than Home Depot. Those tools are the reason that the Rays selected him with the second overall pick in the 2002 draft, and they’re what allowed him to cross the four win threshold in the majors in both 2007 and 2008. Since then, however, Upton has aggravated fantasy owners with his schizophrenic bat. B.J.’s wOBA sat at .387 in ’07 and .354 in ’08, but it dipped to .310 last season and has rebounded mildly to .324 this year. Is he a power hitter? An uber-patient batter with medium pop? Neither? And what about his declining BABIP? Let’s look at Upton’s core skills to get some answers.

Plate Discipline

Upton walked in 11.9% of his plate appearances in 2007, 15.2% in 2008, 9.1% in 2009 and he has drawn a free pass 11.1% this season. As those above-average walk rates indicate, Upton does a better job than most in terms of laying off pitches thrown outside of the strike zone. This season, he’s venturing out of the zone more than he usually does. Here are Upton’s outside swing percentages over the period of 2007-2010, compared to the MLB average:

His O-Swing is about 86 percent of the big league average, compared to 76% in ’07, 59% in ’08 and 78% last season. In addition to swinging at more off-the-plate pitches, his first-pitch strike percentage is 66 percent (58-59% MLB average). It was 63.7% in 2007, 55.2% in 2008 and 61.8% in 2009. I don’t necessarily think this has a ton of predictive value, but Upton’s performance when putting the first pitch in play has plummeted. Here are his sOPS+ numbers on the first pitch over 2007-2010. sOPS+ is a stat that compares a player’s performance in a given split to the league average. One-hundred is average, above 100 means the batters is better than most and under 100 means he is worse than average.

2007: 204 sOPS+
2008: 105 sOPS+
2009: 89 sOPS+
2010: 62 sOPS+

Power

The 6-3, 185 pound righty batter hit for elite power in 2007, posting a .209 ISO with 19.8% of his fly balls leaving the yard. Upton’s ISO fell to .128 (7.4 HR/FB%) in ’08 as he battled through a left shoulder injury that required off-season surgery. Fantasy players were hopeful that a supposedly healed Upton would start going deep more often in ’09, but his ISO barely budged (.132) and his HR/FB% was 6.8. In 2010, B.J.’s pop has rebounded to an extent — his ISO is .163, with an 8.3 HR/FB%. At this point, I think it would be safe to expect power output closer to his current clip — ZiPS pegs Upton for a .156 rest-of-season ISO, and CHONE forecasts a similar .153 ISO.

Speed

This is one area where Upton’s performance hasn’t varied much. He stole 22 bases in 30 tries in 2007 (a 73.3% success rate), then went 44-for-60 in ’08 (73.3%), 42-for-56 last season (75%). In 2010, he has 27 steals in 33 attempts (81.8%). He’s an efficient stolen base threat, and his Speed Score has increased each season (five in ’07, 5.6 in ’08, 6.8 in ’09 and eight in 2010; the MLB average is about five).

BABIP

Upton’s BABIP has been all over the place in his four seasons as a full-time starter — .393 in ’07, .344 in ’08, .310 last year and .292 in 2010. Considering Upton’s wheels, it’s bizarre that his BABIP on grounders is fueling the dip — .341 in ’07, .285 in ’08, .270 in ’09 and just .218 this season. For comparison, The AL average over that period has ranged from .231 to .246.

Is there any particular reason for Upton’s continual BABIP decline? Let’s turn to this expected BABIP (xBABIP) calculator from The Hardball Times, which estimates a hitter’s BABIP based on his rate of home runs, strikeouts, stolen bases, line drives, fly balls, pop ups and ground balls:

While Upton’s actual BABIP has dropped precipitously, his xBABIP totals suggest that little has changed. I don’t think there’s much reason to think that a player with Upton’s speed will continue to post a BABIP on grounders that’s below the league average.

His overall rate of hits on balls put in play should improve. Something closer to his career BABIP, .334, is a good estimate of what to expect from this point forward. Upton should be more of a .250-.260 type hitter than his current .227 mark.

Upton is currently on the waiver wire in one-tenth of Yahoo leagues. If you’re in a league where he’s available, I’d certainly take a gamble. I also think he’s a shrewd buy-low candidate, assuming his recent ankle injury isn’t too serious. Upton possesses a good eye (though it hasn’t been quite as discerning this year) and above-average power, and he’ll add plenty of steals to boot. There’s still upside, too, with Upton not turning 26 until late August. Don’t give up on this guy.

Fantasy baseball players love stolen bases. Sometimes, that affinity leads to well-justified draft picks — who doesn’t want five-tool force Carl Crawford wreaking havoc on the base paths for their team? Other times, that need for speed results in owners employing a latter-day Omar Moreno, a guy who racks up big stolen base totals but couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. There’s yet another type of player who garners a reputation as a “speed guy,” while perhaps not actually helping his team or fantasy owners when he scampers toward second or third base. He might have a shiny SB total, but he’s costing the club runs by getting caught too often.

Today, I’d like to focus on which players have been the most and least efficient when attempting a stolen base. To judge efficiency, I rounded up all players with at least 15 stolen base attempts in 2010 and ranked them in terms of their run value on SB tries. According to Tom Tango, a stolen base is worth about +0.19 runs. A caught stealing subtracts roughly 0.46 runs. So, by looking at a player’s SB and CS figures, we can get a feel for whether he’s helping or hurting when he tries to steal. This matters in fantasy, too — those CS’s cost owners runs scored and provide other batters with fewer chances to drive in runs.

Here are the players who have added value when testing the pitcher and catcher:

And here are the guys who haven’t provided any value or have actually cost their teams runs by getting nabbed too much:

Those looking to add speed to a fantasy roster should look at more than raw SB totals. When a player bolts and gets caught red-handed, there’s a price to be paid.

Last week, we examined the difficulty the since-demoted Chris Tillman had in retiring big league hitters. But he’s not the only highly-acclaimed Orioles pitching prospect whose transition to the majors has been bumpy. Nine starts into his rookie season, Jake Arrieta has walked far more batters than he has fanned. Just yesterday, the TCU product failed to strike out a single Minnesota Twins batter while issuing four free passes. Why is Arrieta pitching so poorly? Let’s try to find out.

A 6-5, 220 pound right-hander who fell to the fifth round of the 2007 draft due to bonus demands (the O’s anted up with a $1.1 million offer), Arrieta began his pro career in the High-A Carolina League in 2008. He used his 92-94 MPH fastball, mid-80’s slider, high-70’s curveball and mid-80’s change to strike out 9.6 batters per nine innings, but his control was so-so, with 4.1 BB/9. Arrieta’s park-and-league-adjusted FIP, according to Minor League Splits, was 3.42 in 113 innings pitched. Last year, he split the season between the Double-A Eastern League and Triple-A International League. Arrieta had a combined 8.8 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 3.91 adjusted FIP in 150.2 innings.

Arrieta was named the 99th-best prospect in the game by Baseball America prior to the 2010 season, with BA saying his “pure stuff compares with any of the Orioles’ elite young pitchers, but his command puts him a notch behind them.” ESPN’s Keith Law ranked Arrieta 90th on his top 100, calling him “a four-pitch guy with no plus pitch but nothing below-average.” Prior to his early-June promotion, Arrieta had 7.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and a 4.11 adjusted FIP in 73 IP. The good-not-great K rate and inflated walk rate portended some turbulent times in the majors — Arrieta’s major league equivalent line called for 6.3 K/9 and 5.35 BB/9 in the show.

To this point, the 24-year-old’s control of the zone has been even worse. He’s got 3.91 K/9 and 5.21 BB/9 in 48.1 IP, with an xFIP (6.10) that’s more depressing than his 5.40 ERA. As pointed out in the Tillman article, it’s important not to draw any definitive conclusions from a small sample of pitching. But right now, he’s not missing bats and he’s not locating his pitches.

Arrieta’s swinging strike rate is 5.5%, a figure which puts him in the same company as Livan Hernandez and Ryan Rowland-Smith. For comparison, the MLB average is 8.4%. He’s getting batters to expand their zones fairly often, with a 32.1 outside swing percentage (28.9% MLB average), but they’re making a ton of contact on those out-of-zone pitches. Arrieta’s outside contact rate is 80.5% (66.5% MLB average). With hitters also squaring up plenty of in-zone offerings (his 90.6% Z-Contact rate is above the 88.2% big league average), his overall contact rate is 86.4%. That’s well above the 80.9% MLB average.

According to Pitch F/X data from TexasLeaguers.com, Arrieta’s fastball is getting whiffs 4.6% of the time that he throws it (5-6% MLB average). His changeup (14.7%) has gotten more whiffs than average (12.6%), but his slider (11.1%) falls short of the 13.6% MLB average. Arrieta’s curve has been a bat magnet — it has a one percent whiff rate (11.6% MLB average).

As R.J. Anderson pointed out, Arrieta isn’t putting away hitters when he gets in 0-and-2 counts. Baseball-Reference shows that he has gotten in 0-2 counts 22% of the time, close to the 23% MLB average. In those situations, Arrieta has been bashful about breaking out his breaking stuff — he’s using his fastball 61% of the time in 0-2 counts, compared to the 49% MLB average. He has yet to record a K in an 0-2 count.

On a related note, he’s also struggling to throw strikes. Arrieta’s first pitch strike percentage is 54.3%, compared to the 58.8% MLB average. Just 43.4% of his pitches have caught part of the plate (47% MLB average). His fastball is getting strikes 63.6% (62-64% MLB average). Everything else, though, is missing often. The slider has been thrown for a strike 53.8% (63.4% MLB average), the curve 51% (58%) and the change 55.9% (60.7%).

Arrieta’s throwing his fastball for strikes, but he hasn’t gotten a feel for his slider, curve or change. That has led to lots of hitter’s counts. And, when Arrieta has backed the hitter into a corner, he’s not sealing the deal — in plate appearances reaching a two-strike count, he has gotten a K 23.9% (36.5% AL average) and he has walked the hitter 18.2% (8.3% AL average). That tends to happen when a pitcher can’t get a called strike or a swing-and-a-miss with his breaking and off-speed stuff.

Again, all of these numbers come in less than 50 innings. It’s not unusual for a pitcher to stumble during his first taste of big league action. Arrieta doesn’t look like a future front-of-the-rotation type — as Law said, none of his pitches are awe-inspiring, and BA noted that his control isn’t great — but he’s still someone to monitor in keeper leagues. As for the present moment, you might want to let Arrieta work out the kinks on somebody else’s roster.

Luke Scott, Orioles (Owned in 19% of Yahoo leagues)

The Rodney Dangerfield of fantasy options, Scott has a couple of factors working against his gaining more notoriety — namely, he didn’t start getting meaningful big league playing time until he was in his late-twenties and he’s currently playing for the AL East’s resident doormat. But Scott could well provide a contending team with an upgrade at the trade deadline, and could do the same for fantasy owners willing to look past a lack of name recognition.

Scott’s got a robust .291/.357/.567 line in 277 plate appearances, good for a .396 wOBA. Despite being sidelined in early July with a strained left hamstring, the lefty slugger’s lumber has been +16 runs above average. While Scott might not keep flirting with a .400 wOBA, it’s not like his potent offensive showing is a fluke — he’s a career .268/.351/.504 hitter and holds a .364 wOBA. If you’re in need of some lightning in your lineup, you could do far worse than what Scott figures to provide for the rest of the season — .263/.342/.497 from ZiPS and .258/.332/.471 from CHONE. Give this guy a little respect.

Jason Hammel, Rockies (23%)

Liberated from the Tampa Bay Rays’ pitching factory in April of 2009, Hammel turned in a quality season as a full-time starter — in 176.2 innings pitched, he struck out 6.78 batters per nine innings, walked 2.14 per nine and compiled a 3.81 xFIP. While a right groin strain caused him to miss a few weeks earlier this year, Hammel is performing well again in 2010. The 27-year-old with sharp breaking stuff has K’d 7.5 per nine frames, issued 2.42 BB/9 and has a 3.72 xFIP in 104.1 IP.

Granted, those extra strikeouts might not stick. Hammel is actually getting fewer swinging strikes this season — 6.9%, compared to 9.5% in 2009 (8-9% MLB average). And, his 84.1% contact rate is higher than his 79.9% mark last year and the 81% MLB average. This increase in punch outs is due to more called strikes. Hammel’s getting a called strike 20% of the time in 2010, compared to 17.1% in ’09 (17% MLB average). Called strikes have a lower correlation with K’s than swinging strikes, so it’s unlikely that Hammel continues to fan so many. But even so, he’s a solid option. ZiPS projects 6.57 K/9, 2.57 BB/9 and a 3.95 FIP for the rest of the season, and CHONE has a forecast with 6.62 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 4.22 neutralized ERA.

Kansas City Royals placed OF David DeJesus (thumb) on the 15-day DL; Recalled OF Alex Gordon from Triple-A Omaha.

DeJesus sprained his right thumb trying to make a catch in center field on what ended up being an inside-the-park homer for Derek Jeter. DeJesus, subject to countless trade rumors due to his solid bat, rangy defense and bargain contract (he has a $6 million club option for 2011), is supposed to meet with a hand specialist in Cleveland sometime today. The 30-year-old hits the shelf with a .318/.384/.443 line in 394 plate appearances, with a career-best .364 wOBA. He’s walking 8.6% of the time and has a .125 ISO, marks that are right in line with his career averages (8.3% and .137, respectively). However, a .355 BABIP that’s 33 points higher than his career figure has boosted his triple-slash.

For the time being, former organizational golden child Alex Gordon will replace DeJesus. The second overall pick in the 2005 draft shifted from third base to the corner outfield this past spring, in deference to top prospect Mike Moustakas. Gordon, a Golden Spikes Award winner ranked by Baseball America as the second-best minor league talent in the game prior to 2007, has yet to rake in the majors and has been beset by injuries. But the 26-year-old Cornhusker has punished the Pacific Coast League since an early-May demotion.

The 6-2, 220 pound lefty batter throttled Double-A pitching in 2006 — Gordon batted .325/.427/.588 in 576 Texas League PA. Walks (12.5 BB%), power (.263 ISO), speed (22 SB in 25 attempts) — you name a skill, and Gordon displayed it. He even rated as a plus defender at third, according to Sean Smith’s Total Zone system (+13 runs). That tour de force performance translated to a .253/.331/.440 major league line, per Minor League Splits.

Gordon made the Royals out of spring training the following year and went on to hit .247/.314/.411 in 601 PA (.317 wOBA). He showed decent power (.164 ISO) and stole 14 bases in 18 tries but struggled with his strike zone control at times (6.8 BB%, 25.2 K%). Gordon appeared to scuffle against secondary stuff, with a positive run value versus fastballs (+0.15 runs per 100 pitches) but red marks against changeups (-0.16), sliders (-1.42) and curveballs (-1.92). All things considered, it wasn’t a bad debut for a 23-year-old with minimal minor league experience.

In 2008, Gordon’s bat improved — he posted a .260/.351/.432 line in 571 PA, with a .344 wOBA. His rate of free passes taken jumped to 11.6%, as his outside swing percentage fell from 25.8% in ’07 to 24.1% (the MLB average was around 25% during both seasons). He hit for a similar amount of power (.172 ISO) and cut his K rate a bit to 24.3%. While continuing to hit fastballs well (+0.81 runs/100), Gordon also had positive runs values against changeups (+1.13) and curves (+1.22). His run value against sliders remained below-average (-0.92).

And then, just when it looked as though Gordon was about to make good on his prospect pedigree, the injuries began. He served a DL stint for a right quad strain in August of ’08, but a right hip ailment in 2009 would prove to be devastating. Gordon got off to a wretched start in 2009 before undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip. He rehabbed and returned to Kansas City in July, but was back in the minors by late August (denying him the service time to achieve Super Two status) before being recalled in September. Overall, Gordon hit .327/.451/.558 in 133 minor league PA spread over Rookie Ball, Double-A and Triple-A but just .232/.324/.378 (.321 wOBA) in 189 big league PA.

This past spring, Gordon fractured his right thumb while sliding headfirst into second base during a spring training game. He was activated from the DL in mid-April, but was banished to Omaha after putting up a .298 wOBA in 38 PA. Since then, he has mashed to the tune of .315/.442/.577 in 321 PCL PA. Gordon has walked 16.2%, whiffed 27.7% and has a .262 ISO. According to Minor League Splits, his major league equivalent line is .258/.361/.444.

While he hasn’t been a disaster at the hot corner in the majors (career -2 UZR/150 in 2,805 innings), Gordon’s future in Kansas City, if he has one, figures to come in the outfield. That’s a hit in positional value, both for fantasy owners and for the Royals. For now, though, Gordon will retain eligibility at third. His rest-of-season CHONE projection calls for a .263/.358/.430, and his ZiPS projection is .242/.329/.406.

The chances of Gordon becoming a star-caliber player are very slim at this point, but he’s worth an add in AL-only leagues and could be someone to watch in mixed leagues if he gets penciled into the lineup like he should. There’s nothing left for Gordon to prove in the minors. Hopefully, he gets an extended shot (either in K.C. or elsewhere) to jump-start his career.

UPDATE: According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter), DeJesus is out for the year with a fully torn thumb ligament. He’s scheduled for surgery Monday. With that unfortunate news, it looks like Gordon will get a chance to sink or swim in the majors.

After what was probably Tim Lincecum’s worst major league start, Dave Cameron wondered if something’s wrong with San Francisco’s mop-topped ace with the acrobatic delivery. Cameron noted Lincecum’s month-by-month splits:

April: 1.78 BB/9, 10.85 K/9, 49.4% GB%, 2.25 xFIP
May: 5.70 BB/9, 9.91 K/9, 50.5% GB%, 4.10 xFIP
June: 3.38 BB/9, 9.56 K/9, 41.6% GB%, 3.23 xFIP
July: 3.38 BB/9, 7.09 K/9, 44.3% GB%, 4.06 xFIP

From 2007 to 2009, Lincecum had two months (June 2007, September 2007) where his xFIP was over 4.00. He’s now done it two of the last three months. He’s never had a month with a strikeout rate as low it is right now in July.

With Lincecum merely pitching very well as opposed to dominating, I thought it would be worth taking a closer look at the 26-year-old’s month-by-month performance. Here are his plate discipline stats:

Lincecum’s in-zone contact rate has climbed each month, and it’s actually above the major league average in July. Opponents are also putting the bat on the ball more on pitches out of the zone this month, which helps explain the lower K rate. His swinging strike rate has declined each month, sitting slightly above the MLB average in July.

He’s throwing more first pitch strikes, but they’re getting hit harder than is the case for most other pitchers. First pitches that batters decide to swing at are typically creamed, but even compared to the big league average, hitters are faring well vs. Lincecum on the first pitch. Baseball-Reference has a stat called sOPS+, which compares a pitcher’s performance in a given split to the league average. One-hundred is average, and more than 100 means a pitcher is doing worse than most. Lincecum’s sOPS+ on the first pitch is 159 this season. I doubt there’s much predictive value here, but it’s worth noting.

How about Lincecum’s Runs/100 values?

It’s important when looking at these numbers to consider that pitches aren’t thrown independent of one another. The effectiveness of one pitch affects the others, and game theory comes into play as well. It’s not as simple as looking at the chart, seeing a certain pitch is doing well on a per-pitch basis and concluding that the pitcher should toss pitch X more in place of pitch Y. Hitters become privy to changes and adjust, too. If a pitcher makes a change in pitch selection, the batter may notice and start looking for that pitch more often.

With that being said, Lincecum’s fastball has remained effective on a per-pitch basis, while his secondary stuff has posted below-average run values. In terms of pitch selection, Lincecum’s going to his fastball more and his changeup less. His percentage of fastballs thrown has gone from 52.9% in April to 58.7% this month, with his changeup percentage going from 26.3% in April to 20% in July.

While hitters aren’t doing a whole lot with Timmy’s fastball, they’re not whiffing at it as much — 3.1% in July, according to TexasLeaguers.com. That whiff rate was 5.4% in April, 8.8% in May and 6.6% in June (5-6% MLB average). His changeup was whiffed at 34% in April, 24.5% in May, 30.9% in June and 24.3% this month (12.6% MLB average). The whiff rates on his breaking stuff have typically been below-average throughout the year — 8.2% for the curve (11.6% MLB average) and 10.5% for the slider (13.6%).

Given the poor run values on Lincecum’s secondary pitches and the spike in contact (particularly on pitches thrown outside of the strike zone), it’s clear that hitters haven’t been fooled as much recently when Lincecum winds up and fires. That being said, it’s imperative to not make a rash decision based on what may very well be a temporary dip in performance. Even the best players in the game go through stretches during which they’re not at the top of their game. Lincecum has been one of the best pitchers on the planet since 2007, and making a knee-jerk transaction at this point has the potential to backfire horribly. Keep a close eye on The Freak, but don’t freak out.