Turner, Glasnow named IL All-Stars

For some, the Triple-A level is a final stepping stone on the way to the Major Leagues. For an elite few -- and perhaps some of those named to the International League All-Star roster Wednesday -- the Triple-A All-Star Game becomes a stepping stone to even more midsummer classics at the game's highest level.

Pirates top prospect Tyler Glasnow and Nationals No. 2 prospect Trea Turner headline a group of six MLB.com top-100 prospects on the 2016 IL roster ahead of this year's Triple-A All-Star Game on July 13 at Charlotte's BB&T Ballpark. Gary Sanchez, Josh Bell, Jorge Polanco and Aaron Judge make up the rest of that group.

Glasnow, one of the IL's two elected starting pitchers, leads all Minor Leaguers with 105 strikeouts in 90 innings for Indianapolis and ranks second in the IL with a 1.70 ERA over his 16 starts. There was a belief that MLB.com's No. 8 overall prospect would be with Pittsburgh by now, but his case for a promotion has been hurt by control issues, namely a 5.1 BB/9 walk rate. Still, the 22-year-old right-hander has proven untouchable of late with two consecutive no-hit outings, lasting 13 total innings, on July 17 and 22 and could be fun to watch in a shorter All-Star Game stint.

Turner is another prospect who many expected to be a steady contributor in the Majors by now. With 29 big league games under his belt, including two this season, MLB.com's No. 9 prospect ranks second in the IL with 22 steals and has produced a .299/.372/.458 line through 73 games in his second stint with Syracuse. Though he's floundered some with a .266 average in June, the 22-year-old can easily be penciled in at the top of the IL lineup come July 13.

Glasnow will be joined by Bell as Indianapolis' two representatives for this year's Triple-A classic. MLB.com's No. 44 prospect, who will start at first base, is having his best Minor League season yet as he ranks second in the circuit with both a .316 average and a .923 OPS. His 150 total bases are most among all International League hitters.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will be the only other IL club with two top-100 representatives on the starting roster with Sanchez (No. 52) at catcher and Judge (No. 27) in the outfield. Judge has begun to break out in a big way and now leads the circuit with 16 homers, including nine in June as he's hit .337 with a 1.156 OPS this month. Sanchez continues to show some pop of his own with eight homers in 49 games and has displayed a strong arm as well, throwing out 39.1 percent of would-be basestealers. Though he isn't a ranked prospect, right-hander Chad Green closes out the RailRiders' elected contingent as one of the two starting pitchers, thanks to his league-best 1.54 ERA in 14 starts (81 2/3 innings).

Rochester's Polanco (No. 88) closes out the group of top-100 prospects at second base. The 22-year-old switch-hitter, who has played 13 games with the Twins this season, owns a .289/.344/.492 line with five homers in 48 contests for the Red Wings.

The complete International League All-Star roster can be found at that link. (For mobile users, go to www.milb.com/asg for info.) The Pacific Coast League All-Star roster is expected to be announced Thursday.