Cole, Taillon highlight FSL All-Stars

The Florida State League's All-Star Game will feature plenty of familiar names for fans even outside of the Sunshine State, with 2011 No. 1 overall pick Gerrit Cole highlighting two rosters filled with top prospects.

League president Chuck Murphy announced the rosters for this year's All-Star Game on Friday, with fellow Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon joining Cole on the South Division squad that will also boast first-round picks Christian Yelich of Jupiter and Mikie Mahtook of Charlotte.

The 2012 FSL All-Star Game will be played on June 16 at Charlotte Sports Park, home of the Stone Crabs, and feature a battle between the North and South Division teams. Each team has 10 pitchers, three catchers, five infielders, four outfielders and a designated hitter.

The North squad is highlighted by top prospects including Lakeland's Nick Castellanos, Clearwater's Jesse Biddle and Lakeland's Bruce Rondon. Dunedin will send six players to the annual event, pitchers Sean Nolin, Dan Barnes and Egan Smith along with infielders Kevin Nolan, Jon Talley and Ryan Schimpf.

Cole, a right-hander for Bradenton, is perhaps the biggest name selected to the event after being taken first overall in last year's Draft by Pittsburgh. He's 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 51 ininngs over 10 starts for the Marauders. Taillon, the Bucs' No. 1 prospect, is 3-4 with a 3.29 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 52 frames over 10 for Bradenton. Both righties are among MLB.com's top 10 prospects in all of baseball.

Castellanos' .409 batting average currently leads the FSL, but the South team will counter with two of the league's top home run hitters in Wilmer Flores and Cory Vaughn, who both have 10 longballs. Daytona's Greg Rohan also has 10 homers and was selected as the North team's designated hitter.

Ballots for the All-Star teams were given out to managers, official scorers and media members covering each FSL team. St. Lucie's Cory Mazzoni and Fort Myers' Ricky Bowen were added to the team after Palm Beach's Seth Maness and Jupiter's Matt Neil were voted to the South team but were unavailble to play after being promoted.

The league did not specify which players were selected to start the game. The circuits' top umpires will also be honored at events during the All-Star Weekend. Full rosters are below:

* Brevard County pitcher Jimmy Nelson was named to replaced promoted former teammate Hiram Burgos. Clearwater infielder Cody Asche was named to replace Lakeland's promoted third baseman Nick Castellanos. Dunedin catcher Jack Murphy was named to replace promoted Lakeland catcher James McCann. Brevard County's Casey Medlen replaced Dunedin's Sean Nolin. Dunedin's Casey Lawrence was named to replace promoted Jimmy Nelson of Brevard County. Clearwater's Tyler Knigge was named as a replacement for injured teammate Adam Morgan. Clearwater's Peter Lavin was named to replace Daytona's Matt Szczur. Brevard County's Shea Vucinich was named to replace Dunedin's Jon Talley.

** Cory Mazzoni and Ricky Bowen were named to the original roster to replace the promoted Seth Maness (Palm Beach) and Matt Neil (Jupiter). Fort Myers' Oswaldo Arcia replaces injured Jupiter outfielder Christian Yelich. Jupiter's Michael Brady was named to replace Charlotte's C.J. Riefenhauser. Riefenhauser was then re-added to replace Jameson Taillon of Bradenton. Jupiter's Raudel Luzo was named to replace Bradenton's Gerrit Cole. St. Lucie's Richard Lucas was named to replace Bradenton's Stefan Welch, who was promoted to Double-A.

Umpires:

Home Plate — Roberto Ortiz
First Base — Brett Terry
Second Base — Shane Livensparger
Third Base — Jose Esteras