Hernandez leaves jaws on floor with 102.4 mph 'beam of light' on first pitch

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Seth Hernandez has never been far away. While the Major Leaguers held court at LECOM Park, he toiled away the spring at Pirate City just a few miles up the road.

There’s no official record of him hitting triple digits on the radar there, only whispers and wide eyes. When the right-hander’s 12-6 curveball cut, it was up to his Minor League teammates to provide the hand-over-mouth, “Did he really just do that?” reactions. When Hernandez stymied a batter with a changeup that a 19-year-old just shouldn’t already have such a feel for, he did so in relative shadow.

Hernandez stepped out from behind the curtain for the first time on Friday night, though, and gave Pirates fans their first glimpse of the future.

A lot like his fastball, it is fast, it is dirty and it will be here before you know it.

Just ask Tigers prospect Max Clark.

When Hernandez took the mound at LECOM Park to start Pittsburgh's 8-7 Spring Breakout game win vs. Detroit, it was his first time in front of a crowd since the Pirates selected him sixth overall in the 2025 MLB Draft. Was he amped up? Maybe just a little: The first offering from Pittsburgh’s No. 3 prospect (No. 29 in MLB) blazed past Clark at 102.4 mph. Although the plate appearance ultimately ended in a walk, five of Hernandez’s six offerings to Clark came at 100 mph or faster.

That first one left Clark -- baseball’s No. 10 prospect -- with wide eyes as he stepped out of the box, mouthed “what the,” smiled and then nodded his appreciation at Hernandez.

“Amped up or not, it's legit stuff,” said Clark, who was interviewed by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo in the dugout in the bottom of the first inning. “I've been following Seth since high school. I've been waiting for it; I was excited that he's getting the start.

“I knew he was gonna be fired up. And that first pitch at 102 did look a little bit like a beam of light, I'll tell you that.”

Hernandez made sure to empty his bag of tricks as the Bucs’ top prospects hosted their Tigers counterparts, with 11 of his 21 pitches touching triple digits -- and three more clocked at 99-plus.

“It's overpowering, and it's electric,” said High-A Greensboro bench coach Phillip Wellman, who managed the Bucs' prospects in the contest. “... He's big, he's strong and the first time he cuts loose a fastball, everybody's gonna go, 'Whoa.'"

Hernandez lost his first two Detroit batters to six-pitch walks -- and the last three pitches of each at-bat lit up the radar at 100-plus mph. The third Tiger, Jack Penney, swung through a 1-2 curveball that looked like it fell off a table. Hernandez coaxed his final opponent of the night, Detroit's No. 25 prospect Eduardo Valencia, to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to escape the frame unscathed.

"We have seen him throw on the back field. We hadn't seen 102 before, but certainly saw upper-90s, and the feel for the breaking balls and his changeup, which is nasty,” Pirates director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow said during an in-game interview on the Pirates' telecast. “For a 19-year-old kid, the feel to be able to turn that thing over is special."

Two years ago, a kid named Paul Skenes was the marquee arm during Spring Breakout 2024. Last year, Bubba Chandler did the honors. Hernandez was humbled to be third in that line, but he was also quick to point out that he’s far from the end of it.

“Man, to be on a list with those guys is pretty special,” Hernandez said. "Trying to get to Pittsburgh as fast as I can, to be on the same roster as those guys. …

“Our pitching system is just absolutely unbelievable. The Pirates know [how to] develop pitchers, and they know to develop some great ones.”

Whether knee-buckling curve, low-80s changeup or straight fire down the pipe, each of Hernandez’s pitches drew eager responses from the crowd, praise from the broadcast and befuddlement from the Tigers.

Wellman -- a veteran coach of nearly four decades -- was no less impressed.

“It's hard to hit them both, obviously,” Wellman said of the pitches. “When you're throwing almost 100, and then you drop a changeup in there, it's good. I saw him last week [pitching at Minor League camp], and it's our guy, so I hate to say this, but we had no chance.

“That's kind of what you would expect from him. He comes as advertised.”