'Enjoying every bit of it': Pirates 1st-round pick Seth Hernandez signs for $7.25 million bonus

Seth Hernandez laughed as he struggled to fasten the front of his Pittsburgh Pirates jersey, joking that buttons weren’t his forte. But it was in that moment that it hit Hernandez that his dream had become a reality: He was officially a professional baseball player.

The Pirates signed their first-round pick to a $7.25 million bonus and formally introduced the 19-year-old right-handed pitcher Tuesday afternoon at PNC Park. The deal is $308,600 below slot value for the No. 6 overall pick but more than half of their bonus pool of $14,088,400.

It’s been a whirlwind summer for Hernandez, who attended prom, graduated from Corona (Calif.) High School, was drafted by the Pirates and attended the ESPY awards ceremony. Before Tuesday’s Pirates-Tigers game, he got to meet two-time All-Star Paul Skenes on the field at PNC Park.

“Obviously, a lot has gone on in my life recently,” Hernandez said. “But I think this kind of tops it, being a part of a great organization. They’ve had faith in me since the beginning. So being able to be here, be in Pittsburgh, amazing city, amazing fans, as well. Being a part of this is definitely unbelievable. … I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m just enjoying every bit of it.”

First-round pick Seth Hernandez on his first impressions of the Pirates and PNC Park. pic.twitter.com/Xjep5Y0N6a

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 22, 2025

The 6-foot-4, 195-pounder, who bypassed a scholarship to Vanderbilt, has an elite fastball and changeup and also throws a slider and curveball. Held back a grade during the covid-19 pandemic and homeschooled until his junior year, Hernandez played a starring role at prep powerhouse Corona. He tossed a shutout and was named MVP of the National High School Invitational, and he was named the national Gatorade player of the year as a senior, which earned him an invite to the ESPYs.

Hernandez, who turned 19 on June 28, had a 0.39 ERA and recorded 105 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings over 11 games as a senior. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and touches 99 mph, but his bread-and-butter pitch is the changeup, which received a 70 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale.

“He, obviously, checks a lot of boxes,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “You don’t take him where he was in the draft unless you check a lot of boxes, but the one thing that made me feel good — aside from all the athletic and pitch-quality, stuff and competitor boxes that he checks — the one thing that made me feel really good as I learned about Seth and his story was that this is a baseball player who loves baseball, who loves being at the field who happens to be a pitcher. That foundation is something that we’re really excited about.”

No. 6 overall pick Seth Hernandez signs w/@Pirates for $7.25 million (slot 6 value = $7,558,600), record @MLBDraft bonus for HS pitcher. California prep RHP, most talented player in @MLBDraft, fastball to 100 mph, advanced changeup, big power at plate also. Vanderbilt recruit. pic.twitter.com/4X0ZU9wl2k

— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 22, 2025

Pirates manager Don Kelly said he watched video of Hernandez before the MLB Draft and expressed excitement for the organization to add a young power pitcher who was rated the No. 2 prospect by Baseball America and No. 3 by MLB Pipeline.

“I don’t think we had a lot of confidence that he was going to make it to six,” Kelly said. “The power arm, you saw the velo. What impressed me was the feel for the changeup, which you don’t see a lot of times from an amateur, especially a high school kid. The ability to spin the breaking ball was well above average, too, which you don’t see all that often. To add all those things together, a really exciting guy to add to the organization.”

Seth is the youngest of Steven and Dawn Hernandez’s four children, with older siblings who are 45, 38 and 26. Though Dawn Hernandez said Seth is calm and even-keeled, she couldn’t contain her joy and had to fight back tears that his dream had come true.

“It hasn’t sunk in completely that he’s here, that he’s made it to this place in his life,” Dawn Hernandez said. “He’s not done. That’s what I know about him is, he’ll never be done. This will never be enough. There will be the next challenge, the next thing until he walks in the major-league stadium and pitches that first pitch.”