Pirates' Seth Hernandez Makes Up for First Big Mistake
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates young ace Seth Hernandez has pitched excellently in 2026, but went through his first real adversity since becoming a professional.
Hernandez allowed two solo home runs over five innings in the 5-4 win for Single-A Bradenton over Lakeland on May 1. This marked his first professional start allowing multiple runs and his first home run allowed as well.
While this may have hurt a young pitcher who has been so dominant, Hernandez simply went on and had another fantastic outing, posting nine strikeouts for his second straight start and helping his team get another win.
Hernandez has only pitched for a month in his first pro season, but moments like these are important to see how a young player adjusts and works through them and this start showed he can deal with adversity.
Seth Hernandez with another quality start!
— Christian ✞ (@CWolfPGH) May 2, 2026
-5.0IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 9SO’s
2nd start in a row with 9 strikeouts!!
The amount of whiffs he generates is absolutely ridiculously. Insane
A 1.23ERA thru his first 5 professional starts! pic.twitter.com/I5qua5XCjp
How Hernandez Pitched vs. Lakeland
What Hernandez is best known for is his four-seam fastball, which can reach into the upper 90s mph and touch 100 mph.
Hernandez gave up six hits, the most in a start this season, with Lakeland getting four hard hits off of his fastball, with his two other hits coming off the slider, both hard hits as well.
The first home run he allowed came on a 98.4 mph fastball in the top of the zone to switch-hitter Anibal Salas in the top of the second inning and then his second home run was a slider on the inside to right-handed hitter Zach MacDonald in the top of the third inning.
Where Hernandez found success was with his curveball and changeup, which he threw 16 and 11 times, respectively, or 39% of the 70 total pitches he threw vs. Lakeland.
The Lakeland hitters couldn't deal with the movement and the break from those two offspeed pitches, as he registered four strikeouts on each pitch, plus three whiffs on seven swings on the curveball and seven whiffs on seven swings on the changeup.
Hernandez showed growth, moving off of his fastball, which Lakeland had success with, and used his offspeed pitches to great success, both of which are solid pitches as well.
He used his curveball and changeup 21% when he faced the Lakeland batting order a second time, a jump from 14% the first time around.
Pitch | Usage | Average Velocity |
|---|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 33/70 (47%) | 96.5 mph |
Curveball | 16/70 (23%) | 81.2 mph |
Changeup | 11/70 (16%) | 83.5 mph |
Slider | 10/70 (14%) | 88.2 mph |
What's Next For Seth Hernandez?
Hernandez has been excellent for Bradenton in his first month as a professional, which calls into question whether he should earn promotion to High-A Greensboro.
His stats show that he's ready for that challenge, a 2-0 record over five starts, a 1.23 ERA over 22.0 innings, 41 strikeouts to six walks, a .133 batting average allowed (BAA) and a 0.73 WHIP.
Where the Pirates will want to see his growth is dealing with an increased workload over time in 2026.
Hernandez threw less than a combined 110 innings over his two seasons at Corona High School in Corona, Calif., where the Pirates took him at the sixth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.
These past few starts have shown Hernandez increasing his pitch total, with three straight five-inning outings and his 70 pitches in this start the most he's thrown this season.
Hernandez will earn that promotion to High-A this season, but the most important thing for him moving forward is maintaining his dominance on the mound the longer he goes into games.
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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.