Pirates Get Cautionary Sign From Seth Hernandez

Hernandez bounced back with a strikeout, then walked a batter, who Greensboro catcher Easton Carmichael threw out at second base,before giving up his second home run to first baseman Arxy Hernandez, leaving a pitch down in the low strike zone that the Winston Salem slugger easily put over the right field wall.

His second inning came to an end with a strikeout then started the third inning with another strikeout and a fly out as well.

Hernandez didn't get out of the inning, as he allowed his third home run, this one to designated hitter Boston Smith, who crushed a fastball up and in over the right field wall to make it 3-2 Winston Salem.

He would walk the next two batters on a combined 13 pitches, before left-handed pitcher Connor Oliver came in and relieved him, ending his outing.

What Hernandez Needs to Fix Before His Next Start

One main unifier for Hernandez on all three of his home runs is that they came against left-handed hitters.

Hernandez will most likely struggle more so against lefties than righties, as is usually the case for a right-handed pitcher, but it's a bit concerning when lefties have that much success.

His debut for Greensboro was much better, striking out seven batters over five no-hit innings against Jersey Shore (Philadelphia Phillies) back on the road on May 15.

Hernandez still walked four batters and has now walked nine batters total in his first two starts at High-A. He only walked seven batters in six starts and 28 innings pitched for Single-A Bradenton, before his promotion.

This is one of the obstacles that Hernandez was going to face at High-A, especially with better hitters who aren't going to just swing and miss at whatever he throws from his incredible pitch mix.

Hernandez will also learn that his new home confines are not beneficial to pitchers at all and a big boon to hitters.

First National Bank Park has its left field foul pole and left field jog at 315/322 feet, while the right field foul pole/right field job at 312/320 feet. The center field wall is 400 feet, but left-center and right-center are just 365/362 feet.

All of these challenges will make Hernandez a much better pitcher and he was bound to have a poor outing eventually.

The 19-year old is still in good shape, but he'll definitely have to learn from this start, forget about and go on to the next one.