Pirates Have Best Pitching Prospect in Baseball
In this story:
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have had some great prospects come through their farm system in recent years and have another one that could dominate for them in the future.
MLB Pipeline did their re-ranking of their top 100 and placed Pirates right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez third overall and as the top pitching prospect in all of baseball.
This re-ranking came after Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, the previous top prospect in baseball, graduated after reaching 130 at-bats, making Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jesús Made the new top prospect in the sport.
Hernandez rose 16 spots from their last ranking, tied for the ninth-highest riser in their re-ranking, while is only behind Made and Athletics shortstop Leo De Vries for the best talent in baseball.
How Hernandez Has Risen So Fast
Hernandez wasn't even a professional at this point last year, as he was pitching for Corona High School in Corona, Calif., about 45 miles east of Los Angeles.
The Pirates took Hernandez with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft and there was already a ton to like about the 19-year old, who stands 6-foot-4 and 190-pounds.
Hernandez already had a great pitch mix, with a four-seam fastball that reached 100 mph, plus offspeed pitches like his changeup, curveball and slider that have great movement and generate a ton of break.
His time at Corona High School saw him dominate, earning 2025 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year honors and posting a 0.62 ERA as a junior with 73 strikeouts and a 0.39 ERA and 105 strikeouts as a senior.
Hernandez didn't pitch with the Pirates in 2025 and would make his professional debut with Single-A Bradenton in 2026.
It couldn't have gone much better for Hernandez, who posted a a 3-0 record over six starts in 2026, a 0.96 ERA over 28.0 innings, 50 strikeouts to seven walks, a .135 batting average allowed (BAA), a 0.71 WHIP, plus a 16.07 K/9 and a 7.14 K/BB.
Hernandez earned Florida State League Pitcher of the Month honors for April and the Pirates promoted him to High-A Greensboro on May 12.
Baseball America is also high on Hernandez, ranking him eighth overall and the third best pitching prospect, behind Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage and Seattle Mariners left-hander Kade Anderson, the third overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.
What's Next For Hernandez?
Hernandez still has some time before he makes his debut with the Pirates, which could come as early as next year, but most likely will occur in 2028.
While he's been fantastic on the mound so far, the jump from Single-A to High-A isn't so easy and he'll have to find ways to make adjustments against higher competition.
He hardly worked out of jams or really found himself in much trouble on the mound with Bradenton, so when those moments come with Greensboro, Hernandez will learn quickly what he needs to do to get out of them.
Something else Hernandez will have to do is adjust to higher inning workloads, as he pitched less than a combined 110 innings in high school.
Hernandez has already increased his innings per start from three in his initial outing, four innings in his second start, five innings each in his next three starts and then six innings in his last start, so he's on the right track there.
The Pirates phenom has shown that he deserved that promotion and he's got the stuff, with great velocity and a high whiff rate, that he should dominate at High-A as well.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.