We’re at a point in the season where fantasy players are more inclined to believe in the decline of their slumping veteran or the breakout of their hot rookie. They may be right, but it’s good to check under the hood first. Let’s look at some names that will see their trajectories change.BuyZach Neto, SS, LAANeto went in the second and third rounds of fantasy drafts this preseason after a 26-HR/26-SB season in 2025. This year, he’s still hitting homers and stealing, but he’s had an uneven performance. His K-rate has jumped to over 31%, and his batting average has dropped to .223. Strikeouts are a part of Zeto’s profile, but some poor batted-ball luck in May has hidden a surge in his barrel rate. The average and power should tick up, though only the latter will be an asset.Esmerlyn Valdez, OF, PITDoes Valdez get regular playing time when Ryan O’Hearn returns? Can he even hit major-league pitching? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but in deeper leagues, now is the time to stash him while we figure them out. Valdez has an exciting combination of power, patience and contact ability, which makes him worth a flyer in deep leagues and monitoring in shallow ones.His maximum exit velocity (representing his hardest-hit ball) was 114 mph in Triple A this year, which would be 25th among qualified hitters, right next to Munetaka Murakami. It’s too early to say how his bat-to-ball skills will translate, but his 11.6% swinging-strike rate in the minors suggests Valdez can earn an acceptable batting average, even if he whiffs more in the majors, and he should be more of an asset in OBP leagues.As for his playing time outlook, it’s possible he’s not a regular on a fully healthy Pirates team, but we can deal with that when it happens, and if he’s hitting well, he might push Marcell Ozuna to the bench.Bryce Miller, SP, SEAI’m guessing Bryce Miller’s owners aren’t exactly looking to sell after his three excellent outings, but in case you can get him, his peripherals fully back up the early results, and his Stuff+ and Pitching+ are better than they’ve ever been by a healthy margin. He doesn’t have the strikeout stuff to be a full ace, but he should be plenty valuable.