There was plenty of dominance this season. Excitement, too.
But when it came to suspense, yeah, Seth Hernandez and Murf Gray were pretty obvious choices here.
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.
Gray on Wednesday was also named the Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year after leading all Pirates Minor Leaguers with 32 home runs.
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 overall ranking by MLB Pipeline, Gray to No. 89.
Hernandez is considered the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Gray No. 4.
In 18 starts for Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, Hernandez went 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA 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 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.
The Pirates selected Hernandez out of Corona (CA) High School with the sixth overall pick of the 2025 MLB draft.
Midway through his first pro season, Hernandez represented the Pirates at the MLB All-Star Futures Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
MLB Pipeline considers Hernandez the top right-handed pitching prospect in baseball, and he was on pace to produce a statistically dominant season across Minor League Baseball.
At the time he was placed on the injured list, Hernandez’s strikeout total was the second-most among all MiLB pitchers.
Meanwhile, 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.