Three Obstacles Pirates' Seth Hernandez Will Face in Greensboro
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PITTSBURGH — Seth Hernandez is the top pitching prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates and is already making great strides in 2026.
Hernandez earned promotion to High-A Greensboro, following a fantastic showing in his month-and-a-half with Single-A Bradenton to start his professional career.
The 19-year old posted a 3-0 record 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.
Hernandez showed his dominance, winning Florida State League Pitcher of the Month honors for April, but will have some new challenges when he moves up a level.
Dealing with Better Hitters
This is the most obvious challenge for Hernandez, as there is now a higher level of competition for him when he takes the mound for his first start with Greensboro.
Hernandez hardly had any issues with the batters he faced, rarely finding himself in trouble and allowing just three earned runs and two home runs.
One of the more impressive feats he was able to pull off was having a plus-70% whiff rate on his three offspeed pitches in his slider, changeup and curveball, while earning 40 strikeouts on them as well.
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) |
Hernandez will still have his great pitches, along with his impressive fastball, that can reach up to 100 mph, so there's no real question as to whether he's a good enough pitcher at this level.
The main question for Hernandez is whether he can dominate High-A hitters like he did those at Single-A and he'll have many starts to answer that.
Maintaining Pitch Quality Later Into Innings
Hernandez's biggest adjustment as a professional is not just facing more talented hitting, but pitching longer and deeper into outings and far more than he did before.
The Pirates took Hernandez with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Corona High School in Corona, Calif.
Hernandez had thrown less than 110 combined innings for Corona High School in his junior and senior seasons, which is far less than what the best major league pitchers do, more than 180 innings and 30+ starts.
The Pirates future ace increased his workload from three innings in his first start, four innings in his second start, five innings each over his next three starts and then six innings in his last start with Bradenton.
Hernandez maintained his pitch quality later on in outings and also didn't let his velocity slip that much either.
He will have great success at Greensboro if he can continue that, but it will be interesting to see if he can do that while facing better hitters.
Pitching in a Hitter's Ball Park
First National Bank Field, where the Greensboro Grasshoppers play, is somewhat akin to a hitter's paradise.
The left field foul pole is 315 feet and the left field jog is 322 feet, while the right field foul pole is 312 feet and the right field jog is 320 feet.
It doesn't get much deeper in center field, with left-center at 365 feet and right-center at 362 feet, with center field at 400 feet.
This gives Greensboro a chance for their hitters to excel and put up great stats, but also makes it difficult for pitchers, who are trying to avoid giving up the home run ball.
LECOM Park isn't necessarily much deeper, 335 feet to both foul poles, 375 feet to right/left-center and 400 feet to center field, but that 20 feet is a big difference for pull power-hitters.
Hernandez has only given up the two home runs so far, but it's crucial he avoids the long ball when he pitches at home.
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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.