Perrotto: Spencer Horwitz Getting His Stuff Together

Spencer Horwitz couldn’t have gotten off to a much worse start with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates acquired the first baseman from the Toronto Blue Jays via the Cleveland Guardians in a three-team trade during the Winter Meetings in December. In January. However, Horwitz underwent hand surgery that caused him to miss spring training and the first month of the regular season.

Horwitz finally made his Pirates’ debut on May 17 in a game against the Phillies in Philadelphia following 13 games in the minor leagues on a rehab assignment.

“It’s been eye-opening,” Horwitz said of returning to major-league action after missing the first seven weeks of the season. “It’s been frustrating. It’s been fun. It’s been disappointing. It’s been all of the above. To get to this moment, where I’m playing again, I’m just super grateful for it all. I’m just happy to be here.”

The 27-year-old Horwitz was the Pirates’ biggest offseason acquisition.

Having a .355 on-base percentage in 425 career plate appearances in two years with the Blue Jays, the Pirates felt Horwitz could bolster one of the worst offenses in baseball. They also believed he had more power potential after hitting 13 home runs for Toronto.

However, Horwitz’s impact has been minimal so far. He is hitting .209/.277/.326 with one home run in 12 games.

The Pirates are averaging just 3.21 runs a game — which ranks 29^th among the 30 teams, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies (3.16) — despite scoring 19 runs in two games while beating the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday and Wednesday in Phoenix.

In fairness, Horwitz is still knocking the rust off after missing more than three months between spring training and the regular season. He is confident, without being arrogant or cocky, that he will give the Pirates lineup a boost.

“That’s where I feel most comfortable in the world, is in that batter’s box,” Horwitz said. “I love baseball. I love hitting. And I’m going to keep working at it.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider is sure of that.

“Spencer’s a hard worker and he takes a lot of pride in his work,” Schneider said. “He’s a guy you never have to worry about. The best way to describe Spencer Horwitz is that he is a guy who has his (stuff) together.”

Horwitz has played good defense through his 11 starts at first base. That has been a plus for the Pirates because Horwitz was considered a slightly below-average fielder with the Blue Jays.

“I think that’s the one thing we talked about when he came back, his footwork over there has been impressive to me and the way he moves around the bag,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said.

Horwitz was able to work on his fielding while on the injured list, though he could not throw. Thus, he was able to make use of his downtime.

“This injury, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that I had more time to focus on my defense,” Horwitz said. “And it’s showing right now. I’m being more consistent out there and working on that first-step quickness.”

The Pirates are in their best stretch of a dismal season with six wins in their last nine games. However, the Pirates’ record is 21-36, and they are in last place in the National League Central, 14.5 games behind the division-leading Cubs.

“This clubhouse is special,” Horwitz said. “I think we’re going to keep coming together and growing even more. Just learning from the veterans here that have been All-Stars and been in the playoffs, I think we have a lot of work to do, but we’re going to get there.”

The Pirates have a long way to go to get there. However, it doesn’t hurt to potentially get help from a player with his (stuff) together.