Those once future stars are now present ones with both starring for the Pirates this season. This year, the representatives for the Pirates were Seth Hernandez and Edward Florentino, who look to follow in their future teammates footsteps as they took the field at Citizens Bank Park Sunday afternoon.

“This is a good experience,” Florentino said. “This is a good trajectory that they had for us, and I think if they do it, we can do it, too.”

The moment is not lost on Hernandez either to be on a national stage where the best of the best perform. It’s also not lost on him that those guys were in his shoes just last year.

“I think for them it’s (they) want to be here in the moment, but obviously the goal is to be in the big leagues, and the fact they’re there now having so much success — it’s amazing,” Hernandez said.

Both Hernandez and Florentino are expected to make it to Altoona at some point during the remainder of the season with many hoping it’s sooner rather than later.

For now, they are focused on what they can control, and in Hernandez’s case, staying healthy through his first full minor league season.

“It’s been a good year,” Hernandez said. “Body’s still healthy, so that’s really all you could ask for, especially this last year.”

Hernandez put that on full display in the second inning for the National League team Sunday afternoon. He had two strikeouts, consistently threw his fastball in the upper 90s and hit 101 mph.

“It was different,” Hernandez said. “A lot of adrenaline running up to the mound. Got a little tired running in because I’m not used to that run. But other than that, I mean, it was electric. The atmosphere here today was pretty special.”

Florentino got to see it up close just like he does in Greensboro on a regular basis, and it was the same result he’s used to seeing.

“Nasty. He just was nasty one on one,” Florentino said. “That was unbelievable.”

Florentino started the game in right field and hit ninth in the order. In his lone appearance at the plate, he was hit with a pitch. Florentino stole second and scored the NL’s only run in a 6-1 loss to the AL.

“It was a really good experience,” Florentino said. “I think it’s one of the things that we always dream of being part of the All-Star Game.”

The experiences of both Hernandez and Florentino will live on for the rest of their careers and is something they were able to soak in during their time in Philadelphia.

“It went by super fast. I think it was a good experience to be around all the guys, see some faces that I’ve seen before,” Hernandez said. “The atmosphere in Philadelphia today was special. I did not expect there to be that many people, so that was cool.”