Spencer Horwitz has become the kind of hitter teammates notice before the box score does. When he steps in, Konnor Griffin expects him to reach base because of the way he is swinging it, and Nick Yorke called him super underrated while saying his glove at first base also changes games.
That trust is backed by the numbers. Through 42 games this season, Horwitz was hitting.273/.383/.414 with a.797 OPS, seven doubles, one triple, three homers and 19 RBIs. He had also drawn 23 walks against 22 strikeouts, a profile that helps explain why his at-bats can feel longer than most and why his teammates talk about him as a steadying presence in the middle of a lineup that looks deeper than it has in years.
Griffin said Horwitz’s approach is built on work, not noise. “He works super hard at it. He’s in the cage so much and he’s really perfecting a swing that’s brought him a lot of success. It’s been cool to see him work and see it translate to the games,” Griffin said. He added that Horwitz is “super selective, but aggressive at the same time,” and that when he gets a pitch in his zone, “he knows that zone really well and he’s going to get a good swing off.”
Yorke was just as direct. He said Horwitz was “super underrated” and called his game “pro.” Yorke pointed to the way Horwitz rarely chases a strike, saying, “If he is swinging at a ball, it’s for a good reason based off of statistics on why this pitcher should be throwing this pitch there.” He added that Horwitz is “full send and full commit to it,” and that when he puts the ball in play, it often finds a gap for extra bases.
The early part of 2026 did not look like this. In his first 17 games, Horwitz hit.217/.339/.304 with a.644 OPS and only two extra-base hits. Then came April 17, when he had a three-hit game against the Rays and reached in all four plate appearances. Since then, the change has been clear: over his next 25 games, he has hit.305/.408/.476 with an.884 OPS, nine extra-base hits, six doubles, two homers and 16 RBIs.
The underlying numbers show why Pittsburgh keeps leaning on him. Horwitz ranked in the 90th percentile in squared-up rate at 32.1 percent, the 88th percentile in strikeout rate at 14.3 percent, the 90th percentile in walk rate at 14.9 percent and the 92nd percentile in whiff rate at 15.4 percent. He also ranked in the 73rd percentile in chase rate at 25.4 percent. The tradeoff is modest power metrics: he sat in the seventh percentile in average exit velocity at 85.6 mph, the eighth percentile in hard-hit rate at 27.8 percent and the 11th percentile in bat speed at 68.7 mph.
That combination gives Horwitz a very specific value. He was a 1.1 WAR player at the time of the story, and for a Pirates club that appears significantly deeper than in past seasons, his job is less about loud contact than about winning plate appearances and keeping innings alive. The slow start is in the rearview mirror now. What Pittsburgh has is a first baseman whose best trait is the one managers trust most: he keeps making his at-bats count.
