Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect Josh Bell has been selected to MLB’s Futures Game. Bell is the lone representative for the Pirates. He’s been playing for the Bradenton Marauders this season, and putting up outstanding numbers so far. He’s got a .336/.386/.518 line in 274 at-bats this season, and the numbers in June have been even better. Bell is on fire this month, with a .427/.482/.707 line with five homers in 75 at-bats.
One issue for Bell early in the season was his struggles against left-handed pitchers. He has done a much better job of that lately, getting his OPS against lefties up to .833, after it was in the low .600’s a month ago.
Bell is in good company as far as Pirates outfield prospects who have appeared in the Futures Game. The current outfield trio in Pittsburgh of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gregory Polanco have all appeared in the game in the past.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Well, this should mean he is about 12 to 18 months from the team looking at former Bucs and their arrival time. He is a big time player. He is my Polanco
It’s a shame and maybe surprising that the Bucs only got one representative from the system (max is 2) – Glasnow would certainly merit consideration, and I imagine if he had a full complement of innings, he’d be there. For anyone wondering about Hanson, forget it – the international team has Correa, Baez and Lindor at SS. No cracking that lineup.