During his meeting with the media Wednesday, Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Dr. Todd Tomcyzk announced that top pitching prospect Seth Hernandez’s season is likely over due to an oblique strain. The injury will keep the Pirates’ top pitching prospect off the field for 6-8 weeks, which means that his season is pretty much finished.
“I don’t want to come out and say his season is over right now. But if you’re looking at the minor-league calendar, that would be a challenge to get him back into minor-league games,” Dr. Tomcyzk said.
In his first season as a member of the Pirates organization, Hernandez has shown why he was selected No. 6 overall in last year’s draft. Throughout the 2026 campaign, he has started for both Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, where he’s made a sizable impact despite his innings often being limited by the coaching staff. Given 74 innings of work (18 starts), he holds an impressive ERA of 2.43 along with 118 total punchouts.
Hernandez’s on-field success hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. He was named April’s Pitcher of the Month in the Florida State League and was invited to compete at the MLB Futures Game, where he pitched a shutout inning.
