Bell goes under the knife: The Pirates announced on Friday that outfield prospect Josh Bell, the team's second round pick in last year's draft who is playing for Class-A West Virginia, underwent surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee. The team expects him to return to the field later in the season after rehabbing the knee. (Updated 04/27/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/25/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Bell, the team's No. 3 prospect coming into the season, was hitting .274 in 15 games to start his career, with one home run and a 21 to 2 strikeout to walk ratio. He had some problems with overaggressiveness, and now he is likely going to miss a few months before he can begin to work on them again. He is a highly talented prospect who is probably three years away from making a Fantasy impact at the major league level, so this injury is hardly a delay. He remains just a long-term keeper. (Updated 04/27/2012).
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Rarely does a second-round pick who has yet to play professionally garner so much attention in Fantasy, but then again, rarely does a second-rounder offer as much upside as Josh Bell. The only reason he lasted so long is because most teams were certain he wanted to play college ball, but when the Pirates offered him $5 million -- the most ever for a non-first-rounder -- he had no choice but to relent. Bell is a switch-hitter with big-time power potential and a mature enough approach to post high walk rates. Calling him another Lance Berkman would be setting your sights a little high, but if everything breaks his way, he could be putting up those kinds of numbers in his prime. Of course, he still has a long way to go to get there. As a 19-year-old starting on the bottom rung of the minor-league ladder, he has plenty of room for slippage and likely won't even sniff the majors until late in 2014. But his upside is intriguing enough that he's worth drafting in long-term keeper leagues even before he gets his first professional at-bat. (Updated 2/9/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
