The Pirates will be sending two of their most intriguing young players to the All-Star Futures Game, with right-hander Seth Hernandez and outfielder Edward Florentino both set for July 12 at Citizens Bank Park.
Hernandez is the bigger name of the pair right now, and the numbers explain why. The 20-year-old has climbed to No. 7 on MLB Pipeline’s updated top-100 prospects list after a fast rise through the system.
Drafted sixth overall in 2025, he became the first Minor League pitcher this season to get to 100 strikeouts last week. Through 14 starts split between Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, he owns a 2.02 ERA, ranks second in Minor League Baseball in strikeouts and has held opponents to a MiLB-best .159 batting average.
Florentino is right there as another high-upside piece for Pittsburgh. MLB Pipeline has him at No. 32 on its list, and the 19-year-old has put together an .807 OPS with 10 home runs, 38 RBI and 42 walks in 53 games between Bradenton and Greensboro. That production continues the momentum from last year, when he was named the Pirates’ Rookie Level Player of the Year in 2025.
On the roster front, Dominic Fletcher has taken a different path. The Pirates outfielder exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league contract on July 1, the first day he was eligible to do so, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray.
Fletcher spent most of the season at Triple-A Indianapolis after signing with Pittsburgh in the offseason as a non-roster invitee to spring training. He brought major league experience into the organization, with 112 games across parts of three MLB seasons for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox. But he never got a big league chance with the Pirates, even though the club added several players on minor league deals over the winter with the idea that they could step in if injuries hit the roster.
Now he heads to minor league free agency and will try to find a better opening elsewhere, with a shot to get back to the majors in 2026.
And in a move that lands with a little extra familiarity for Pirates fans, Tommy Pham has found another stop with a National League contender. The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a minor league deal with the veteran outfielder, who also gets a July 25 opt-out clause.
Pham split earlier this season between the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles organizations before landing with Philadelphia. He hit .700 OPS over 120 games with the Pirates last season, but that wasn’t enough to secure a major league deal over the winter. The Phillies may offer a clearer route, though, with Adolis García out for multiple months and Johan Rojas done for the season as they search for outfield help ahead of the trade deadline.
Pham isn’t the bat he once was, but he still brings the kind of veteran presence teams will take a chance on. Pirates fans saw that version last year: a right-handed hitter who can still work at-bats, even if the peak years are long gone.
In Other News...
Pirates Outfield Depth Just Took Another Hit At The Worst Time
The Pirates already thin outfield depth took another hit when Dominic Fletcher, who spent most of the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, became available to leave his minor league deal. Pittsburgh brought him in as a safety net behind its big league outfield, hoping his left-handed bat and major league background would give the organization a workable insurance policy if injuries stacked up.
Fletcher brought some credibility to that role after seeing time in the majors with Arizona and the White Sox, but the timing worked against the Pirates. With other depth players already being pushed into larger jobs, losing a veteran minor league option only sharpens the pressure on an outfield group that could ill afford another setback. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates May Finally Have To Trade A Top Infield Prospect
With the trade deadline approaching, the Pirates are staring at a familiar front-office dilemma: keep stockpiling middle-infield talent, or use some of that depth to patch a bullpen that needs help now. The organization has options in the dirt, and Termarr Johnson remains one of the more intriguing names in the system, but the broader argument is that prospect patience only goes so far when a postseason push can be undone by late-inning innings slipping away.
Pittsburghs best path may be to target a controllable reliever who can help beyond this season, even if the cost means moving a premium infield piece and one of the players already crowding the same part of the roster. It is the sort of deadline choice that says as much about where the Pirates think they are as where they hope to be, and it could force them to decide whether protecting future depth matters more than making the present roster sturdier. [Read more 🡒]
Roberto Clementes Legacy Just Reached Another Level For Pirates Fans
Roberto Clementes collecting market just climbed another rung, and for Pirates fans that means the legend tied to Pittsburgh keeps getting recognized in a very public way. At the June Memory Lane Auctions, a high-grade 1968 Topps Clemente card sold for $19,506, a new high for that grade and a sharp jump from a similar sale in May.
The same auction also underscored how much value remains attached to baseball history beyond the Pirates icon, with a 1948 Leaf Satchel Paige rookie card fetching $184,736. Paiges card rose by more than 16 percent from its previous sale, a reminder that rare vintage pieces tied to the games biggest trailblazers can keep resetting expectations even as collectors watch closely for the next benchmark. [Read more 🡒]