BRADENTON, Fla. -- The bigger the target, the easier to hit the mark. By that axiom, Double-A Altoona infielders won't have much excuse for throwing errors this year because Josh Bell will be manning first base.

"He's a large man," Pirates director of player development Larry Broadway said. "His shoulders are like three feet wide. It's unbelievable."

Taken in the second round of the 2011 Draft, Bell got $5 million from the Pirates thanks to the offensive potential woven into his massive frame. The switch-hitter is listed at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, and his body is reminiscent of a comic book super hero with broad shoulders and a tapered midsection.

Pittsburgh has been pleased with his offensive development. In 2013, he cranked 37 doubles with Class A West Virginia and hit .287. Last year, he split the season between Class A Advanced Bradenton and Double-A Altoona, hitting .325 with nine homers and 35 extra-base hits. Though his career high for home runs is just 13, the Pirates are optimistic he'll slug more homers with time.

He showcased that potential on Tuesday. In a Minor League Spring Training scrimmage, he crushed a pitch off Pittsburgh right-hander Charlie Morton to dead center for a triple. The ball smashed off the batter's eye 410 feet away.

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Defensively, though, Bell is facing a new challenge in 2015 -- Pittsburgh has moved him from the outfield to first base. The Texan began taking grounders late in 2014 while with Altoona, but didn't see any game action on the dirt until the Arizona Fall League.

Reviews of his defense from the AFL were mixed, with MLB.com saying, "He has a ways to go defensively at his new position," as it ranked him the top first base prospect in baseball.

After taking the offseason to polish his game, Bell has pleased Broadway and the Pirates with his progress to date.

"He's done a nice job," Broadway said. "It was brand new to him. The throwing, the fielding ground balls, working around the base, flipping balls to the pitcher, covering first. Everything is new when you haven't done it before. He's made improvements in all of it just purely by the reps."

While the move to first opens a quicker path to the Majors for Bell -- Pittsburgh's outfield trio of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco are all under contract through 2018 at least -- the big-bodied baseballer was moved primarily for his own good. Pittsburgh believes in Bell's bat and wants it in the lineup as much as possible. For a player of his size, it's a better bet he can stay healthy if he's not chasing pop flies in the outfield, Pittsburgh thinks.

"For his longevity, the reality, the demands of the outfield, it better suits him physically to play first base," Broadway said.

Groundwork laid for Glasnow to rise

Despite gaudy numbers and glowing scouting reports, Tyler Glasnow has been on a methodical rise through the Pirates' farm system. The 2011 fifth-round pick spent 2012 almost entirely at the complex level. In 2013, he made all 24 of his starts in Class A. Last year, each of his 23 starts came at Class A Advanced.

Pittsburgh has been conservative with Glasnow because of an organizational belief that it's best to take things slow with prep hurlers.

"We'd like to, especially with high school players, to get them solidified a whole year at a level before we start going partial seasons and jumping them," Broadway said.

Glasnow's ascendance through the Minors may be less orderly from here on out, though. The Pirates have laid the necessary groundwork for with the 21-year-old right-hander. The team is pleased with the way he's developed his 6-foot-7 frame. It raves about the growth he's made mentally. His repertoire has deepened beyond an upper-90s fastball.

If ever Glasnow was going to jump a level or two over the course of a season, it will be in 2015.

"It's going to be dependent on him and dependent on where we're at with some things we're working on," Broadway said. "But it's not going to be set in stone, 'You're staying here the whole year, then next year, you're going to start in Triple-A.' We're past that point."

As much as any organization, the Pirates are systematic in the way they promote pitchers -- Broadway referred to the team's process as "semi-scientific." Pittsburgh accounts not just for innings pitched, but pitch counts, stressful pitches and effort level. The team has refined the way it interprets and reacts to its own evaluations of those things over time.

Last year, Glasnow threw 143 2/3 innings between the regular season and the Arizona Fall League. How much his innings limit jumps will depend on a number of factors, but the table is set for Glasnow to pitch more in 2015, beginning at Double-A Altoona.

Joe Dirt: 2014 pick destined for infield

When Pittsburgh took University of San Diego slugger Connor Joe 39th overall in last year's Draft, reports surfaced the team would try him at catcher, even though he was primarily a right fielder and first baseman in college.

Before the team could give him a look behind the plate, he suffered a back injury. Now, the team has nixed catching, and instead is getting Joe work at third base and first base exclusively. Pittsburgh drafted Joe because of his bat, and the team is cautious about introducing offensive prospects to catching in their first full season, especially after the transition went so poorly for Wyatt Mathisen in 2013.

The 22-year-old Joe is still not back to regular action due to the back injury, but should be ready shortly after Opening Day.

"We've got to build some innings up on him, just because he missed so much time last year," Broadway said. "He's not a full go right now. It's just progressing the work load on him. We'll keep it conservative and give him a chance to get some build up."

Taillon headed for extended spring training

Right-hander Jameson Taillon is throwing off a mound twice a week as he continues his return from Tommy John surgery. The 23-year-old threw fastballs and changeups in live batting practice last Friday and should get a few more similar sessions before progressing to game action.

When he's ready for that, the Pirates will have him pitch in extended spring training. From there, Broadway anticipates he'll get a start with Class A Advanced Bradenton, hopefully in May, before climbing to Triple-A Indianapolis. The team doesn't have an innings count in mind for Taillon right now.