Top-10 Profiles of 2025: No. 2 Seth Hernandez

2025 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MLK WEEKEND SCOUT NOTEBOOK: After excellent performances at major events this summer through to the Prep Baseball All-America Game, Hernandez solidified himself as one of the top pitchers in the country. With the start he showed elite stuff vs Oaks Christian. The draft prospect has a loose explosive delivery with a high three quarter arm slot, showing fluidity & consistency resulting in strong velocity & consistent control with his pitch mix. First pitch was an electric fastball that clocked in at 94 gradually increasing to 96 as he settled in rhythm. Fastball displayed plus movement with strong late tail and life, followed by his slider (79-81) with above average-plus projection; displayed a snappy break with depth & light sweep covering both plains of the plate. Generated a strikeout with changeup displaying late dive and showed to be a trusted secondary offering in his arsenal. Followed by his lone inning of work, Hernandez had a couple at bats resulting in a RBI double, and a single. Hernandez is widely viewed as the top prep draft prospect in California and possibly the country.

Prep Baseball All-American Game: Easy to see why Hernandez is the top ranked pitching prospect in the 2025 class. 6-foot-4, 190-pounds with highest-level projection and pitchability. Fluid three-quarters arm slot with great incorporation of the lower half and impressive scap retraction. Fastball will live 93-95, touching 96 with ride and run and excluding out of the hand. Can be unhittable when commanded up and in and will create swing-and-miss throughout the zone. Advanced feel to spin a tight breaking curveball at 77-79 with ability to get real snap when on top of it. Will lock up hitters for called strikes to both led and right-handed bats alike. Changeup will dive out of the zone at 76-78 with devastating glove-side tumble out of the same fastball tunnel. Innate ability to both spin and get whiffs with the entire pitch mix for the Vanderbilt commit. Not to mention, Hernandez is a 6.8 runner and can really swing it, showing impressive hand speed and barrel control, with flashes of above-average raw power.

UC AREA CODE GAMES: Hernandez set the bar for every other pitcher to be measured against as the first underclassman to toe the rubber in San Diego, and left little doubt as to who was the top pitching prospect in the class. At 6-foot-4, 190-pounds with long limbs and lean strength on an uber-projectable, ultra-athletic frame, Hernandez’s impressive present stuff is only outpaced by the future potential. He sat 93-95 (2466 rpm max), procuring swings-and-misses in the zone with the fastball as he bullied a lineup littered with future Day 1 draftees to the tune of seven strikeouts over three innings. After establishing the heater, Hernandez provided any first time on-lookers with a glimpse at a turbo changeup (77-78, 2100s) that grades out as a future plus-pitch, thrown with innate conference with quality profile against the fastball. Still more, his third offering, a downer, 11/5 curveball (76-77, 2700+) was one of the top secondary offerings of any arm throughout the week. Working crossfire down the mound with the slightest of stabs in the back before throwing over a high front shoulder, Hernandez’s command wavered slightly in the second inning before he demonstrated the maturity of correction with a batter. Overall, it was a marquee performance from Hernandez who also showed off some intriguing power potential from the right side of the plate throughout the rest of the week.