Detroit Tigers: Four breakout candidates for 2018

Detroit Tigers fans may be in for a surprise in 2018 as young Tigers players are starting to step up and fill the voids left by departing veterans.

The Detroit Tigers have been stripped of most of their star players in the past few months, leaving them with a fairly young and inexperienced team.

More and more young players will be given chances to show what they can do at the major league level in 2018.

Despite the terrible season the Tigers have had thus far, some players have shown blips of up talent, hopefully that they can carry into the 2018 season.

Here are four players that should take a huge step forward in the 2018 season.

James McCann

James McCann had a horrible start to the 2017 season, where he posted a slash line of just .201/.282/.416 over the first half of the season, causing veteran catcher Alex Avila to garner much of the playing time at catcher.

McCann has turned his season around since the departure of Avila to the Cubs, posting a .321/.381/.455 since the All-Star break.

If McCann can keep his average up along with his above average glove work, there is no question he would become one of the better two way players at his position.

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Jeimer Candelario

Candelario has certainly been impressive since his arrival in Detroit, hitting .377/.476/.585 along with slugging a pair of homers since joining the Tigers last month.

Now, the third baseman probably wont maintain a slash line that impressive, but he is definitely showing he will be an above average contributor at the plate in the future.

Candelario’s excellent play (not to mention being a step up defensively) has forced Nicholas Castellanos to the outfield to make room for his bat in the line up. The former Cub has most likely done enough to claim the starting spot at third for the 2018 season.

Nicholas Castellanos

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Nicholas Castellanos should make the transition to the outfield with ease, as he played two full seasons there in the minors.

With Castellanos playing a less demanding position, it should give him more time to worry about his hitting.

He will most likely find himself hitting fourth in the line up next season, a spot where he has dominated in this season, posting a slash line of .397/.443/.644 along with three home runs in 79 at-bats in the clean up spot.

Castellanos has posted a career high in both home runs (23) and runs batted in (92) this season, and will look to post even better numbers in 2018.

Matthew Boyd

Matt Boyd has pitched excellent this month, posting an earned run average of 2.16 with a WHIP of 1.00 in 25 innings thus far in September, along with coming one out away from tossing what would have been the team’s first no hitter since Justin Verlander threw one back in the 2011 season.

Boyd has shown at times he could be a middle of the rotation starter in the future.

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If he can cut down on the number of base runners he allows, there is no question he will be a key part of the rotation going forward.