The Pirates have spent the last few seasons building a rotation pipeline that keeps spitting out premium arms, and Seth Hernandez is the latest name to jump into the conversation. Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft have already given Pittsburgh plenty to brag about, but Hernandez is arriving with his own kind of buzz.
The No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 draft has been carving up A-ball, and the numbers have put him in rare company. He became the first minor-league pitcher to reach 100 strikeouts this year, and plenty of outlets already have him ranked among baseball’s top 10 prospects. That kind of rise tends to come with big dreams, and Hernandez has one that goes beyond simply following Skenes to Pittsburgh.
In a Pirates newsletter, Aiden Stepansky spoke with Hernandez one-on-one, and the young right-hander laid out the target he has in mind:
“A goal that I always think about is making the big leagues while I'm still 20 years old. So if I could make it before June 28 of next year, that would be pretty awesome.”
That’s an ambitious bar, especially when the standard in Pittsburgh right now is Paul Skenes. The first overall pick in the 2023 draft moved through the minors at a blistering pace, debuting on May 11, 2024, less than a year after being drafted and after just 34 minor-league innings.
Hernandez is trying to top that timeline, though his path is different. He came out of Corona HS, which means he entered pro ball with less polish and fewer reps than Skenes, who had already dominated the SEC at LSU.
Even so, Hernandez has already given the Pirates plenty to like. Across 16 starts between Low-A and High-A, he’s posted a 2.61 ERA and a 3.64 FIP in 69 innings.
The eye-popping number is the strikeout rate: 40.8%, a massive sign that he’s handling hitters with ease. If he keeps rolling and shines at the All-Star Futures Game, a move to Double-A Altoona before the season ends would make sense.
The calendar matters here, too. If Hernandez wants to debut in Pittsburgh before his 21st birthday on June 28, 2027, he’ll need to begin next season in Triple-A. That would keep him on track for a summer call-up if injuries or poor performance open a door, assuming there’s a season at all next year.
The Pirates don’t have any real reason to hurry him along, not with so much pitching depth already in place. But the idea of replacing an aging Mitch Keller with another electric young arm is enough to make the whole thing feel almost unfair. If Hernandez gets there, Pittsburgh could have five of the best young pitchers in baseball at once, and all of them would be 27 or younger next season.
That’s the kind of rotation dream the Pirates are building toward, and Hernandez has already made it a little bigger.
In Other News...
Pirates Just Lost The Skenes Showdown That Made This Finale Huge
After sweeping Saturdays doubleheader against the Brewers, the Pirates head into the first-half finale with a chance to put a clean finish on a day that already gave them a jolt of momentum. The club also spent the draft adding five players, including a notable move that sent away the 34th overall pick and pitcher Jaden Woods, so it has been a busy stretch even before the final game of the series.
Sundays matchup had been shaping up as the marquee pitching duel of the weekend, with Paul Skenes lined up to face Milwaukees Jacob Misiorowski. Instead, the Brewers will turn to Robert Gasser, which changes the feel of a game that still carries plenty of weight for Pittsburgh as it tries to complete the sweep and close out the first half on the right note. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Prospects Seth Hernandez And Edward Florentino Turned Heads In Futures Game
The Futures Game offered a useful snapshot of why the Pirates are so interested in Seth Hernandez and Edward Florentino. Hernandez handled the National Leagues second inning with poise, working a scoreless frame and showing the kind of stuff that has made him one of the more closely watched arms in the system. Florentino, meanwhile, found a way to impact the game without needing a big swing, the sort of all-around contribution that can stand out in an exhibition built around top prospects.
Florentinos night included reaching base, moving into scoring position and crossing the plate, a sequence that helped keep his name in the conversation among Pittsburghs young talent. For a farm system always looking for the next wave, it was the kind of showcase that can matter beyond the box score, especially when both players are already carrying the expectations that come with being near the top of the organizations prospect list. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Fans Have Every Reason To Question This No. 5 Pick
The Pirates first-round decision in the MLB Draft already has the feel of a pick that will be debated for a while. Pittsburgh went with LSU outfielder Derek Curiel Jr. at No. 5 overall, a choice that caught plenty of attention because it came after a draft board that seemed to offer other directions the club could have taken.
Jacob Lombard, Eric Booth Jr. and Gio Rojas all surfaced as names some observers thought fit Pittsburgh better, and the conversation only gets more interesting when you consider the possibility that the Pirates had been eyeing a different type of player before the board shifted. However the front office explains the process, this is the kind of selection that leaves fans wondering what the original plan really was. [Read more 🡒]