Corona's Seth Hernandez selected 6th overall by Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025 MLB Draft

After perhaps the most remarkable two-year high school baseball career ever, Seth Hernandez is now the sixth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft and a Pittsburgh Pirate.

Hernandez, who just graduated from Corona High School, was homeschooled for his first two years of high school – although he was already among the top-ranked players in the Class of 2026 before starting at Corona as a junior. Between his junior and senior years, Hernandez won Gatorade State Player of the Year twice, Gatorade National Player of the Year once, a CIF-Southern Section Division 1 title, and a CIF-SS Division 1 runner-up trophy.

What defined the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder's dominance as a Corona Panther? He was the near-consensus top pitcher in the Class of 2025 and a Division 1-caliber hitter as well. And his numbers and team success backed up the hype against the absolute highest level of high school competition.

As a junior, Hernandez went 9-0 a 0.62 ERA in 56 innings while batting .352 with eight home runs and 34 RBI. He totaled 72 strikeouts to 15 walks and 27 hits. His Panthers went 30-3, including a 5-0 victory against Harvard-Westlake in the Southern Section title game, and finished the season ranked third in the country by MaxPreps.

Hernandez was even better on the mound as a senior, and still a force at the plate too. He went 9-1 with a 0.39 ERA – allowing just three earned runs all season – and 105 K's to seven walks and 19 hits in 53.1 innings. His only loss, and two of his three earned runs allowed, came in the section finals as Corona was shut out 2-0 by St. John Bosco. Even then, Hernandez still turned in a strong outing relative to the opponent and situation with two hits and two runs allowed plus nine strikeouts in five innings. He hit .300 for the season with seven long balls and 11 RBI.

MLB.com's Theo DeRosa wrote, "He has three ELITE pitches. One of the best fastballs in the Draft. A bat-missing changeup. A tight curveball with excellent spin. Any one of those pitches could make a good Draft prospect... Hernandez's 'bread and butter' -- his changeup -- plays expertly off his high-octane fastball, diving below the zone to elicit swings and misses. His curveball also has impressive movement, taking a true 12-to-6 shape with well-above-average spin. All three pitches -- plus a hard slider Hernandez has incorporated into his repertoire -- earned above-average grades from MLB Pipeline on the 20-to-80 scale. He’s got plenty of weapons to get hitters out."

MLB.com's post included the following MLB pipeline scouting grades on the 20-to-80 scale:

Fastball: 70
Curveball: 60
Slider: 55
Changeup: 60
Control: 55
Overall: 60

Four picks after Hernandez came off the board, the Chicago White Sox drafted Billy Carlson tenth, making them the first pair of high school teammates to ever go top-10 in the same draft. Corona also became the first school to produce three top-50 picks in one draft when shortstop Brady Ebel was taken 32nd overall by the Milwaukee Brewers.