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Pirates prospects sweep FSL awards

Bucs' Bell, Glasnow named circuit's Player, Pitcher of the Year
August 26, 2014

The Pirates were expected to have one of the best farm systems in the game entering the 2014 season. Now that the Minor League campaign is mostly complete, that still rings true, and you don't have to look beyond the Florida State League for proof.

Pirates prospects Josh Bell and Tyler Glasnow have been named the FSL's Player and Pitcher of the Year, the FSL announced in addition to its postseason All-Star Team on Tuesday.

Bell, ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Pirates system, rode an impressive season at the plate to his second straight postseason All-Star squad appearance. The switch-hitting outfielder, who still has enough at-bats to qualify despite a mid-July promotion to Double-A Altoona, sits atop the FSL leaderboard with a .335 average, .502 slugging percentage and .886 OPS. He also added nine homers, four triples, 20 doubles and 53 RBIs in 84 games with Class A Advanced Bradenton.

Because of his hitting prowess in the pitcher-friendly FSL, Bell climbed from No. 74 in MLB.com's preseason prospect rankings to his current status at No. 32 following a midseason update. (He holds the same spot in MiLB.com's aggregated rankings.) The 2011 second-rounder was also a South Atlantic League postseason All-Star with Class A West Virginia a season ago.

Glasnow has become the Pirates' top prospect and No. 19 overall after putting together one of the most impressive pitching displays in the Minors.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander missed a good chunk of April with back issues but didn't take long to find his form. As of Tuesday, he leads the Florida State League with a 1.67 ERA and 1.05 WHIP and ranks second with an 11.3 K/9, trailing only fellow All-Star Taylor Cole's 11.6 for Dunedin. Despite pitching only 118 1/3 innings, the 21-year-old hurler's 148 punchouts on the season rank eighth among all Minor Leaguers.

Glasnow wasn't the only top-100 pitching prospect honored by the FSL on Tuesday. Twins No. 5 prospect Jose Berrios, who checks in No. 36 on the overall list, was also given a spot on the postseason squad for his performance at Fort Myers. The 20-year-old right-hander went 9-3 with a 1.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 109 strikeouts in 16 starts (96 1/3 innings) for the Miracle before being promoted to Double-A New Britain in early July.

Colin Moran was named the league's top third baseman after putting up a .294/.342/.393 line with five homers, 21 doubles and 33 RBIs in 89 games with Jupiter. The 2013 sixth overall pick was traded to the Astros organization on July 31 in the deal that netted Jarred Cosart and Enrique Hernandez for the Marlins.

Here is the complete breakdown of the 2014 FSL postseason All-Star team:

2014 Florida State League Postseason All-Stars
CATCHERS      
NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG
Cam Maron C St. Lucie NYM
Justin O'Conner C Charlotte TB
INFIELDERS      
NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG
Viosergy Rosa 1B Jupiter MIA
Gioskar Amaya 2B Daytona CHC
Leonardo Reginatto SS Charlotte TB
Colin Moran 3B Jupiter MIA
Nathan Orf UT INF Brevard County MIL
OUTFIELDERS      
NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG
Jake Cave LF Tampa NYY
Charlie Tilson CF Palm Beach STL
Josh Bell* RF Bradenton PIT
Dwight Smith Jr. UT OF Dunedin TOR
DESIGNATED HITTER      
NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG
Adam Brett Walker DH Fort Myers MIN
PITCHERS      
NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG
Jose Berrios SP Fort Myers MIN
Taylor Cole SP Dunedin TOR
Tyler Glasnow SP Bradenton PIT
Tyler Wagner SP Brevard County MIL
Angel Nesbitt RP Lakeland DET
Arik Sikula RP Dunedin TOR
FIELD STAFF      
NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG
Omar Malave Manager Dunedin TOR
Doug Mientkiewicz Coach Fort Myers MIN
Tom Prince Coach Bradenton PIT
* Player of the Year
† Pitcher of the Year

Sam Dykstra is a contributor to MiLB.com.