Ever since he was first drafted back in 2010, Nick Castellanos has been a rather popular subject among Detroit Tigers fans. He first made his MLB debut for the Tigers as a September call-up in 2013, and it seems like only yesterday when Prince Fielder was traded to the Texas Rangers the following offseason. The move cleared the way for Miguel Cabrera to move back to first base, and Castellanos was Detroit’s starting third baseman on opening day of 2014.

Castellanos had a pretty solid season at the plate in his rookie season, hitting .259/.306/.394 with 11 homers and 66 RBIs. From an offensive standpoint, it was a very respectable campaign, but many were left feeling that he was still capable of much greater things. He finished just eighth in the Rookie of the Year voting, but of the six players who finished between him and the slugging Jose Abreu, five of them were pitchers.

In his sophomore campaign, Castellanos got off to a very slow start and was a source of frustration for quite a few fans. Through May 28 of last season, he was hitting just .239/.288/.381 with four homers and 20 RBIs. It was right around this time last year when some began wondering if he might benefit from a stint in the minor leagues.

The Tigers stuck with him, though, and it really paid off. Castellanos ended up having a very respectable second half last season, hitting .269/.322/.478. He also wound up with 15 homers and 73 RBIs on the year.

Going into 2016, expectations were somewhat tame for Castellanos after the results of his first two full MLB seasons. So far, though, the still-only 24-year-old has come out of the gates hotter than most anyone could have imagined.

Through 46 games, Castellanos is slashing a cool .333/.361/.591. He has also hit 10 homers with 32 runs driven in, and a 25-plus homer season should be well within his grasp at his current pace.

Although he didn’t quite deliver the numbers that some were hoping for over the past two years, Castellanos is more than making up for it so far in 2016. It is looking like he is in the midst of the proverbial “post-hype breakout season,” and it has been well worth the short wait.