Keith Law: Tigers' Nick Castellanos a breakout candidate

Last year's breakout hitter for the Detroit Tigers was outfielder J.D. Martinez.

This year, it could be Nick Castellanos.

ESPN baseball analyst Keith Law pinpointed the third baseman as one of nine breakout candidates in MLB in 2015.

Castellanos, 23, is coming off a rookie season in which he hit 11 home runs, 66 RBIs and struck out 140 times with a .259 average (.700 OPS).

"Castellanos reached the majors quickly, with just three years of minor league experience despite starting pro ball right out of high school, so he was one of the youngest (he turned 23 less than two weeks ago) and least-experienced rookies to hold a more or less every-day job last year," Law wrote. "That makes it a bit less surprising that he made adjustments so gradually over the course of the season, but by year end he was clearly making them; he showed early in the year he could hit a fastball, received a steadier diet of off-speed stuff, and by August and September cut his swing-and-miss rates on both sliders and change-ups by significant margins.

"His swing has always been mechanically sound, but with these improvements in his pitch recognition, similar to what he had to go through in Double-A (another long adjustment period for him), I think he'll hit close to .300 with more walks and another 5-10 homers."

Nick Castellanos improving at third base

Another player on Law's list is injured Chicago Cubs right-hander Jacob Turner, who was traded from the Tigers to the Miami Marlins for Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante in 2012.

Last year, Law had left-hander Drew Smyly on his list of breakout candidates. While Smyly posted a 3.93 ERA in 21 games (18 starts) for the Tigers, he went 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA in seven starts after he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BrianManzullo.