There was plenty of dominance this season. Excitement, too.
But when it came to suspense, Seth Hernandez and Murf Gray didn't offer much, as Young Bucs week concluded Thursday with the Pirates announcing Hernandez as their Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year and Gray as the Honus Wagner Player of the Year.
Hernandez and Gray are two premium prospects who established themselves in a big way on the national stage in 2026, Hernandez ascending to the No. 9 ranking by MLB Pipeline, Gray to No. 89.
Here's more on two key pieces of the Pirates future.
Clear goal for Hernandez
Though he was plenty busy with his own journey, dominating at Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, Hernandez paid plenty of attention to the Major League team.
He saw electric stuff and power arms. Hernandez also observed the struggles of the starting staff and how Paul Skenes and Co. navigated them.
The whole thing was encouraging to Hernandez, who doesn't believe he's that far away.
"The staff they have up there is pretty electric," said Hernandez, who's considered the best right-handed pitching prospect in baseball. "To see they’re not perfect, it's definitely interesting, especially with the stuff they have.
"I’m excited to get up there next year.”
Hernandez certainly did what was necessary in 2026 to make that happen, pitching well, improving a bunch and later navigating an oblique injury that shortened his season.
In 18 starts for Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, Hernandez went 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA to go along with 118 strikeouts, a .181 batting average against and 1.05 WHIP.
Unfortunately for the 20-year-old right-hander and the Pirates, he suffered a Grade 3 left oblique strain on July 24 and was lost for the season due to his recovery timeline (6-8 weeks).
Speaking Tuesday, Pirates director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow said the injury offered an opportunity for Hernandez and the team to re-assess his routine. But otherwise, it’s not a huge concern.
“The way he’s attacked his rehab, the questions he's continued to ask, the access he gets to our really strong performance group and the people there, he's only going to be better getting out of this,” Chernow said.
After weighing around 212 pounds this season, Hernandez said he currently weighs 220, and he might bump up to 225 — an intentional move to better absorb wear and tear.
Aside from learning that a little more bulk could help, Hernandez said a smaller ballpark in Greensboro taught him how to pitch with a smaller margin for error and rebound well from mistakes.
When it comes to his pitch mix, Hernandez adjusted his changeup grip shortly after arriving at High-A.
The small tweak made the pitch even nastier, while some improved definition to his curveball resulted in more swing and miss.
“Credit to the Pirates and the coaching staff,” Hernandez said. “They really know how to get those pitches dialed in for me. The slider was another pitch going into the year where we needed to get it better. It can still get better throughout the offseason going into next year, so that’s going to be one of my goals.”
The Pirates selected Hernandez out of Corona (CA) High School with the sixth overall pick of the 2025 MLB draft, and midway through his first pro season, Hernandez represented the Pirates at the MLB All-Star Futures Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
At the time he was placed on the injured list, Hernandez’s strikeout total was the second-most among all MiLB pitchers.
Hernandez is back home in California now, the oblique fully healed. He's grateful for the lessons learned this year and certainly enjoyed his first season of pro ball. But Hernandez also has much bigger goals.
"I think the biggest takeaway was kind of getting the first one out of the way," Hernandez said. "Now I’m going into next year with a new mindset, new goals in mind. That’s really it.”
Big-time growth for Gray
Gray’s 32 home runs led all Pirates Minor Leaguers and were tied with Chad Hermansen (1999), Jon Benick (2004) and Andrew Lambo (2013) for the fourth-most by any Pirates Minor Leaguer since 1999.
Those above Gray on that list: Brad Eldred (38 in 2004), Mason Martin (35 in 2019) and Craig Wilson (33 in 2000).
Gray, 22, hit a combined .305 with 27 doubles, 97 RBI, 66 walks, .969 OPS and 100 runs scored in 126 games split between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona.
It’s been a quick rise for Gray, although not one that surprises the people who see him every day.
“The way he’s grown and has continued to improve is what has been most impressive about Murf,” Chernow said. “His ability to understand the different concepts we’re putting in front of him, whether it’s defensively or offensively in the box, he’s demonstrating really strong aptitude in addition to the tools he possess, which we were able to see this year.”
Gray made his debut April 3 at Dunedin and never looked back. He led the Florida State League in hits (51), RBI (34), slugging (.606), OPS (1.042) and total bases (86) while ranking second in batting (.359) and runs scored (29).
Selected out of Fresno State (CA) University in the Competitive Balance-B round in 2025, reached High-A on May 19 and led the South Atlantic League in total bases (105) and ranked tied for first in home runs (15) during his time with the Grasshoppers.
Gray made his Double-A debut on July 17 and ranked third in the Eastern League in on-base percentage (.395), tied for fourth in runs (34), seventh in OPS (.879) and tied for eighth in walks (29) from July 17-Sept. 13.
Baseball America recognized Gray as the Pirates’ Minor League Player of the Year after he led Pittsburgh farmhands in hits, home runs, RBI, slugging, runs, extra-bas hits (59) and total bases (266) in his first pro season.
MLB Pipeline considers Gray the No. 3 third-base prospect in baseball behind Caleb Bonemer of the White Sox and Jefferson Rojas of the Mets.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.