2B DJ LeMahieu, Colorado Rockies

Stats June 20 -- 26: 13-for-29, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB, 4 BB, 3 K

Percent owned: 83 percent

In his first three seasons as an everyday player, LeMahieu was a slap-hitter who struck out far too often (17 percent of the time) for someone with such little pop. Now, in his age-27 season, he's suddenly developed excellent control of the strike zone and, more importantly, can actually make pitchers pay for their mistakes.

LeMahieu posted a downright awful .083 ISO from 2013-15, mustering just 83 extra-base hits in nearly 1,600 plate appearances. He's got 29 XBH through 294 plate appearances in 2016, and he's on pace for double-digit home runs for the first time in his career.

LeMahieu's ISO has skyrocketed to .171, good for 10th-highest among qualified second basemen after ranking second-to-last in 2015. Though his swing rate has only slightly increased, his contact rate has shot up significantly from his career norms. Whatever adjustments LeMahieu has made appear to be working, as evidenced by his 26.5 percent line-drive rate, good for ninth-highest in the Majors.

LeMahieu's recent move to the top of the batting order only increases his fantasy value, as he's on pace to score over 100 runs. LeMahieu left Sunday's game with a bruised knee and is considered day-to-day, but assuming the injury is no more serious than that, he should continue to put up All-Star-worthy results.

THREE DOWN

OF Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

Stats June 20 -- 26: 4-for-21, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K

Percent owned: 99 percent

A month ago, McCutchen was featured in the Three Down section with some optimism that he'd enjoy a breakout June, much like he did last season. Cutch has logged 320 plate appearances now, and we can no longer brush aside his sluggishness as merely a slow start.

McCutchen's strikeout rate has climbed to 25.3 percent, much higher than his previous career-worst of 19.6 percent he set back in 2012. He's walking a career-low 9.4 percent of the time, with a .177 ISO that's 20 points lower than his career average. Another troubling sign is the fact that he's become much more fly-ball prone than ever before, hitting the ball in the air 46.4 percent of the time.

McCuthen used to make a living destroying left-handed pitching, owning a .321 batting average against southpaws heading into the season. In 67 plate appearances versus lefties this year, Cutch has hit just .226 with four extra-base hits.

Granted, he hasn't had much more success against righties, so the root of his problems go much deeper than that. He's an awful 2-for-6 in stolen base attempts, looking nothing like the power-speed dynamo he once was.

McCutchen's trade value is practically nonexistent, and cutting ties with a first- or second-round pick is never an easy thing to do. While he's shown little promise this far into the season, the best thing owners can do is simply keep waiting it out and hope nights like McCutchen's two-homer game on Saturday are a sign of things to come.