In Chicago on 670 AM The Score, there is a Sunday morning baseball radio program entitled ‘Hit and Run.’ The show is hosted by Chicago Daily Herald columnist Barry Rozner and Connor McKnight, a reporter/update desk/host for The Score. While mostly covering mediocre Chicago baseball, the show delves into national coverage, advanced statistical data, and the lighter side of our national pastime. To get a better idea of who these two are, check them out on Twitter @BarryRozner and @McKnight670.

(As an aside, Rozner is an excellent source for golf coverage and is well known for his distaste of the Vancouver Canucks. No joke, many a column has been written about him or because of him across the border.)

This past Sunday, I was listening to ‘Hit and Run’ and they mentioned there are two websites that people are guaranteed to get lost searching through: Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and Baseball Reference.

I nodded in agreement, but shrugged off the notion shortly after. While it is true that one can get lost clicking on the many links and pages of the two sites, I thought to myself that doing so is a rare occurrence for me. Before sitting down to give this week’s column life, I spent a fair amount of time on IMDb and Baseball Reference.

In honor of falling victim to two of my favorite sports and entertainment research sites, I spent an extra amount of time on B.R. finding stats for the players featured in the Peak and Valley sections that should warrant attention as the fantasy baseball season heats up, just like the weather is.

Peaking

Allen Craig, First Base/Outfield, St. Louis Cardinals: No one is dropping the 28-year old in fantasy and shame on those that have in your league. What has been a concern for all Craig owners is the goose egg in the home run column. After a superb first full season, the lack of power and a sub-par batting average may mean a regression to what Craig could be for the rest of his career.

Looking at his Runs Above Replacement and Runs Above Replacement Level, there is room for optimism. His 2013 RAA is -4, which is a big drop from his +7 in 2012. Craig is not a premier first base option in fantasy, as his RAA shows, but that number will end up closer to +5-10 than stay in the negative range. A -1 RAR appears to be an outlier. His second lowest RAR was in 2010 at +2, which was also his first taste of major league pitching.

Hold steady. Craig’s 18 RBI’s heading into May shows he will get his, and when the power shows up, his run totals and the advanced run metrics will trend in the right direction.

Brandon McCarthy, Starting Pitcher, Arizona Diamondbacks: Most starters make a smooth transition when they jump from the American League to the National League. McCarthy is trying to buck that trend with an ERA under 8.00 and with a WHIP over 1.70. He is a pitch to contact hurler, and he has done so in 2013. The problem is that hitters are making better contact than ever before against him. McCarthy’s H/9 (Hit per 9 innings pitched) is at a staggering 14.6, while his career average is 9.2. This is the first season for him that his H/9 is outside of an 8-9 range. His control is on pace for his career, although he has cut his walk rate in half. I would watch Brandon very closely the next few starts, because he could be a nice addition to the bottom of your fantasy rotation if he can get some luck with balls put in play.

Yuniesky Betancourt, First Base/Third Base, Milwaukee Brewers: I feel unclean having Yuni here, but he deserves some positive attention and optimism. The Brew Crew stick him at first to help fill the void that Corey Hart has left being hurt, but what the move has done is save the embarrassment that he is on the left side of the infield. With Aramis Ramirez missing time as well, Betancourt had to split time at the hot corner.

It is expected that Betancourt will spend majority of the summer at first, and it is fair to say that relieving him of his worries chasing grounders has given him time to focus on hitting. His OPS, OPS+, and slugging are leaps and bounds ahead of his career averages. While that will not be the case all season, it is safe to expect career highs in all those categories. I literally laughed when I saw his 2013 runs above average (RAA from above) are at a career high of zero. Betancourt will be a middle of the road first baseman, but if he stays on a similar path, he season stats would trump the aforementioned Craig and 2013 surprise Adam LaRoche.

In the Valley

Adam LaRoche, First Base, Washington Nationals: It is common knowledge that LaRoche strikes out, but in his 10-year career, he has only struck out more times than games played once (2010). That was also his second most productive season behind his 2012 campaign. With 25 strikeouts and little offensive production to mask his hot-or-miss approach, it is time to start worrying if the 33-year old got lucky one last time last season.

Andy Pettitte, Starting Pitcher, New York Yankees: It is hard to not appreciate a 40-year young pitcher trotting out to the mound every fifth day and being able to be effective. Pettitte has something left in the tank, but I doubt it keeps his stats respectable going forward. His 4.34 Opponent Runs Scored per 9 (RA9opp) is a half run lower than his career average. With a limited career sample size to judge if he can keep the run totals down, it is tough to say what to expect going forward. It is also tough to say that I am good at joking about sample sizes of an 18-year vet. I would avoid adding Pettitte. If you feel lucky, add him and play him once before trying to turn him into a better starter.

John Buck, Catcher, New York Mets: Raise your hand if you expected Buck’s production to plummet (two hands up!). Since April 15, he has one more hit (five), and RBI’s (four). His brief offensive spike was nice and all, but considering his inability to walk and hit for a respectable average, a cold streak was bound to come about. His career Runs Batting (Rbat), the number of runs better or worse than the average player was at a career best +5 so far. His career Rbat? -60. Now is the time to drop him if you picked him up, hoping for a steal at a fairly deep catcher position.

Hope you enjoyed the trip down baseball nerd lane. I want to thank Baseball Reference for allowing fans and all involved in baseball to delve deeper into the sport than those in past generations could have ever imagined.

Follow me on Twitter @jeffrotull44 for more sports and entertainment shenanigans. You can always ask me any sports questions, fantasy or normal there.