Pirates' Seth Hernandez Proved He's Ready for Promotion
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PITTSBURGH — Seth Hernandez has only just started his professional career, but the Pittsburgh Pirates know the talent they have in him.
Hernandez dominated at Single-A Bradenton and the Pirates have rewarded him with his first promotion to High-A Greensboro, less than a month-and-a-half from his first start in the minor leagues.
It's a great moment for the 19-year old who the Pirates took sixth overall in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Corona High School in Corona, Calif. and for the franchise that sees him as their future ace.
Hernandez has a big opportunity ahead of him and he's fully deserved it with the way he's pitched so far in 2026.
Why Hernandez Deserved This Promotion
There was no better pitcher than Hernandez in the Florida State League (FSL), where Hernandez earned Pitcher of the Month Award honors in April.
Hernandez posted a 3-0 over six starts with Bradenton, 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.
He led the FSL in ERA, WHIP, BAA, strikeouts, K/9, K/BB and was second in innings pitched before his promotion to High-A.
Hernandez also showed the Pirates he could take on more innings and still pitch as effectively as he had earlier on. He went from three innings in his first start, four innings in his second start, five innings each in his next three starts and then six innings in his last start.
Going from less than 110 combined innings in high school to eventually throwing 180 innings at the major league level is a big step, but Hernandez is proving that he can work towards that this season and do so with great pitching as well.
Hernandez was also simply too good for the level of hitting at Single-A and will benefit from better competition at High-A.
There will be some challenges for Hernandez, but Greensboro is where he should be right now and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts moving forward.
Hernandez's Pitch Mix Separates Him From His Peers
Hernandez has a simple, but effective pitch mix for a starter, with a four-seam fastball, a slider, a changeup and a curveball.
The fastball is what Hernandez is best known for, averaging around 97.1 mph at Single-A and he can reach 100 mph with it as well. He throws his three offspeed pitches about half the time and has them in the 80s mph range.
Pitch | Usage | Average Velocity |
|---|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 48.2% | 97.1 mph |
Curveball | 17.3% | 80.6 mph |
Slider | 18.1% | 88.1 mph |
Changeup | 16.4% | 83.6 mph |
What has made Hernandez even more impressive is with how the Single-A hitter had no idea what to do with his offspeed pitches, with their individual whiff rates higher than 70%.
He generated great movement on his offspeed pitches, with his curveball dropping about 50 inches and his slider and changeup dropping around 30 inches each themselves.
They likely were sitting on the fastball, but that just shows how important it is that Hernandez has those slower pitches to take down opposing hitters.
Pitch | Strikeouts | Whiff Rate |
|---|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 8 | 27.7% (23/83) |
Slider | 9 | 71.1% (27/38) |
Curveball | 16 | 73.1% (19/26) |
Changeup | 15 | 70.7% (29/41) |
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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.