Pirates
Pirates All 40: Can Spencer Horwitz Stick?

This is one in a series of stories breaking down members of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.
The Pirates have churned through a revolving door at first base since the departure of Josh Bell following the 2020 season: Colin Moran, Michael Chavis, Will Craig, Carlos Santana and Rowdy Tellez, to name but a few.
This season, Spencer Horwitz will get his chance at locking the position down after the Pirates acquired him in exchange for starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and a pair of minor league prospects during the winter meetings.
A late round pick of the Blue Jays (during now-Pirates general manager Ben Cherington’s tenure there) in the 2019 MLB Entry Draft, Horwitz made his big league debut with Toronto in 2023, playing in 112 big league games and slashing .264/.355/.428 with 13 home runs — 12 of them in 97 games this past season — during that span. As is typical for a left-handed hitter, Horwitz enjoyed his greatest success against right-handed pitchers, posting an OPS of .864: against lefties, it dropped to a putrid .522.
He possesses the ability to play second and third base in addition to his natural spot at first, but those platoon splits mean he probably isn’t an everyday starter… or, at least, would require the Pirates to have a pinch-hitter on tap in late game scenarios.
Although Horwitz won’t hit free agency until 2031, potentially giving him plenty more time to adjust to the big leagues and improve with the Pirates, at 27 years old, his career trajectory looks much different than, say, Termarr Johnson.
Horwitz could well improve with a strong sophomore campaign, but it feels equally likely we end up having this type of conversation at first base again in 2026.