Seth Hernandez's electric Futures Game outing has Pirates fans demanding the impossible

Seth Hernandez needed only 14 pitches to make a lasting impression at the 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game. Apparently, that was enough for some Pittsburgh Pirates fans to begin planning his immediate promotion from High-A Greensboro to the major-league bullpen.

Hernandez, the Pirates’ No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 6 prospect overall, delivered a perfect second inning for the National League squad Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. He struck out two of the three hitters he faced, threw 10 of his 14 pitches for strikes and reached 101 mph with his fastball.

The 20-year-old opened by striking out Kansas City Royals prospect Blake Mitchell with an 88 mph changeup. After getting Chicago White Sox top prospect Caleb Bonemer to pop out, Hernandez won an eight-pitch battle against Baltimore Orioles prospect Ike Irish by getting him to chase a 99.1 mph fastball outside the strike zone.

“First time coming out of the ’pen in a long time,” Hernandez said afterward. “That was pretty fun. Hopefully maybe show the Pirates I can come out of the ’pen. That was pretty electric.”

It was indeed electric. But it was also a seven-inning exhibition featuring baseball’s top prospects, not an audition to immediately start pitching the eighth inning at PNC Park.

And yet, the bullpen situation in Pittsburgh this season has become so dire that Hernandez's comments incited a reaction from fans online that's bordering on delusional.

Seth Hernandez accidentally exposed just how broken the Pirates' bullpen is

Hernandez has been dominant this season, posting a 2.61 ERA and 1.07 WHIP across 69 innings between Single-A and High-A. He is averaging an absurd 14.48 strikeouts per nine innings while walking 3.91 batters per nine.

Those numbers would certainly look appealing to a Pirates team entering the All-Star break with a 4.48 bullpen ERA, which ranks 23rd in MLB. Pittsburgh’s relief corps has actively weighed down an offense that somehow leads the majors in runs per game.

Still, calling for Hernandez to jump directly from Greensboro to Pittsburgh is asking for the impossible — or, at the very least, something spectacularly irresponsible.

The Pirates are developing Hernandez as a starting pitcher, and for good reason. His combination of velocity, secondary pitches and strikeout ability gives him legitimate top-of-the-rotation upside. Turning him into a desperation reliever because the front office failed to construct an adequate major-league bullpen would be an absurd overreaction.

Hernandez has never pitched above High-A. He needs to build innings, refine his command and continue developing a starter’s workload. His future is far more important than patching a bullpen hole for a few weeks in 2026.

The fact that fans can watch one Futures Game inning and reasonably conclude that Hernandez might already be an upgrade says much more about the Pirates’ bullpen than it does about his readiness. Pittsburgh needs legitimate relief help before the trade deadline, and acquiring Brandon Eisert from the White Sox doesn't qualify as a complete solution.

Hernandez showed Sunday that he could eventually become something special. The Pirates’ job is to make sure desperation doesn't interfere with that future.

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