Horwitz went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 10-9 win over the Twins.
Horwitz made an early impact, leading off the game with a homer before adding a single and scoring again in the second. It continued a magnificent May for the 28-year-old, who enters the final day of the month hitting .333 with 10 extra-base hits and 16 RBI through 25 games. On the season, he's slashing .292/.394/.470 with seven long balls, 26 RBI, 23 runs scored and one steal across 203 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Stays hot with another homer
Rotowire
Horwitz went 2-for-3 with a solo homer, two RBI and one run scored in Tuesday's 12-1 win over the Cubs.
Horwitz drove home the Pirates' eighth run of the game with a sac fly in the fifth and later took Daniel Palencia deep for a solo shot in the seventh to make it a 10-1 contest. It was Horwitz's sixth homer of the season and third in his last seven games. The first baseman has hit safely in 17 of 21 games this month and has raised his average 39 points during that span. Horwitz is slashing .289/.391/.467 with the six round trippers, 25 RBI, 20 runs scored, one stolen base and a 26:24 BB:K across 184 plate appearances this season. While he doesn't hit for much power, Horwitz doesn't strike out and has a high walk rate.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Swats fifth homer
Rotowire
Horwitz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk Sunday against the Blue Jays.
Horwitz went yard on the first pitch of the game, tallying his fifth homer of the season. He served as Pittsburgh's leadoff hitter for the second time this season, displacing Oneil Cruz. Horwitz has been solid in May, tallying two home runs, 13 RBI and seven runs scored while hitting .306 across 19 games.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Opens scoring with homer
Rotowire
Horwitz went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 7-0 win over the Cardinals.
Horwitz ended a 15-game homer drought when he went deep in the second inning. While he didn't find much power during that stretch, he batted .313 with 11 RBI and a 9:7 BB:K. Horwitz is now batting .276 with an .814 OPS, four long balls, 21 RBI, 16 runs scored, one stolen base, seven doubles and a triple through 44 contests this season. He continues to handle a strong-side platoon role at first base.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Idle against southpaw
Rotowire
Horwitz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies.
As is usually the case, the left-handed-hitting Horwitz will be left out of the starting nine while the Pirates face a lefty starter (Jose Quintana). Jared Triolo will step in at first base in place of Horwitz, who has gone 3-for-13 (.231 average) with four walks against lefties this season.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Two more hits Tuesday
Rotowire
Horwitz went 2-for-3 with a walk in Tuesday's 3-1 win over the Rockies.
With a second straight two-hit game, Horwitz now has his average up to a season-high .272, and he's currently riding a six-game hitting streak. In nine games this month, Horwitz is 10-for-30 (.333) with four doubles, one triple, nine RBI, two runs scored and an 8:3 BB:K. On the year, Horwitz has an impressive .393 on-base percentage and has walked more times (23) than he's struck out (18) across 140 trips to the plate.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Returning to action Wednesday
Rotowire
Horwitz (neck) is in Pittsburgh's starting lineup against Texas on Wednesday.
Horwitz was scratched from Tuesday's lineup due to neck discomfort, but he has been cleared to return for Wednesday's bout. The 28-year-old first baseman is slashing .255/.382/.400 with two home runs, nine runs and five RBI over 68 plate appearances this season.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Scratched with neck discomfort
Rotowire
Horwitz was scratched from the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Rangers due to neck discomfort.
Horwitz will take a seat to give his neck a chance to recover and can be considered day-to-day for now. Ryan O'Hearn will move to first base to cover for Horwitz, opening up right field for Jake Mangum.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Slugs pinch-hit homer
Rotowire
Horwitz went 1-for-2 with a solo home run Sunday against the Rays.
Horwitz began the game on the bench with a lefty on the mound, though he entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. He slugged his second homer of the season in his first plate appearance, both of which have come in his last seven appearances. He's gone 6-for-18 with three RBI and four runs scored in that span.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Multi-hit showing
Rotowire
Horwitz went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk Friday against the Rays.
Horwitz opened up the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning and proceeded to get on base three additional times. He has started every game against right-handed pitchers this season, and he's gone 9-for-26 with one home run, two RBI and five runs scored across his last 10 games.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: On base three times
Rotowire
Horwitz went 1-for-2 with a single, two walks and a run scored Sunday against the Orioles.
Horwitz started his fourth straight game at first base, and he's reached base in each of those contests. He's been particularly patient, with his two free passes Sunday bringing his walk rate to 14.3 percent. Despite the value he has brought to Pittsburgh's lineup, he has only two runs and two RBI with only a .174 batting average across 28 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Settling in at first base
Rotowire
Horwitz will start at first base and bat sixth in Sunday's game against the Mets.
Heading into spring training, the 28-year-old's role was somewhat muddled following the offseason additions of Marcell Ozuna, Ryan O'Hearn and Brandon Lowe, but Horwitz looks to have settled into a strong-side platoon role at first base. He's occupied the position for the Pirates' first two games against right-handed pitchers, with O'Hearn spelling him Saturday when the Mets sent lefty David Peterson to the hill.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Uncertain role
Rotowire
Horwitz enters the 2026 season with an uncertain defensive home, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
Horwitz was the Pirates' primary first baseman when healthy in 2025, and he delivered a solid 119 wRC+ across 411 plate appearances. However, the team brought in Ryan O'Hearn this winter, and he will almost certainly get some playing time at first base. The team's other additions of Brandon Lowe and Marcell Ozuna lower the potential playing time available at second base and designated hitter, respectively, leaving Horwitz without an obvious path to a regular defensive home. O'Hearn is slated to also play in right field, so Horwitz should still get a fair bit of run at first base while also occasionally filling in at second base and DH as needed.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: On bench Sunday
Rotowire
Horwitz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta.
Horwitz will take a seat for the Pirates' season finale, giving way to Rafael Flores at first base. Assuming Horwitz doesn't enter off the bench, he'll end the campaign with a .273/.354/.435 slash line, 11 home runs, 51 RBI and 55 runs scored across 410 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Reaches five times with two homers
Rotowire
Horwitz went 3-for-3 with two home runs, four RBI, two walks and an additional run scored in Friday's 9-3 win over Atlanta.
It was the second multi-homer game of the year for Horwitz, who piled up at least three RBI for the fifth time this season. The first baseman is heading out on a high note in 2025, slashing a robust .338/.451/.632 with four big flies, eight doubles and 13 RBI across his last 82 trips to the plate (24 games). Horwitz also has career highs in RBI (51), runs scored (54), doubles (26) and walks (43) this year.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Plays hero in three-hit game
Rotowire
Horwitz went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-innings win over the Reds.
The 27-year-old first baseman dealt a potentially fatal blow to Cincinnati's playoff hopes when he launched his second two-bagger of the night into the right-field corner to lead off the 11th inning, bringing Bryan Reynolds home as the phantom runner. Horwitz is finishing up his 2025 campaign in style, slashing .300/.397/.540 over his last 16 games with six doubles, two homers, seven runs and eight RBI.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Resting against lefty
Rotowire
Horwitz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs.
The left-handed-hitting Horwitz will hit the bench for the series finale while the Cubs send southpaw Matthew Boyd to the bump. Rafael Flores will step in for Horwitz on Wednesday to make his first MLB start.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Smacks sixth home run
Rotowire
Horwitz went 2-for-5 with a solo home run, a double, two RBI and two runs scored Friday against the Rockies.
Horwitz smacked an RBI double in the second inning and followed that up with his fifth home run of the season four frames later. He hasn't hit for much power this season, as he has a .132 ISO across 303 plate appearances, but Horwitz now has four extra-base hits across his last five starts. Horwitz is putting together a respectable second half, as he's hitting .300 with four homers, 20 RBI and 17 runs scored across 31 games since the All-Star break.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Idle against southpaw
Rotowire
Horwitz is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.
Horwitz batted leadoff in each of the last four games and got on base at a .389 clip while scoring two runs and driving in two more, but the Pirates haven't yet committed to using him regularly against left-handed pitching. With southpaw Jose Quintana on the hill for Milwaukee, the left-handed-hitting Horwitz will give way to the right-handed-hitting Liover Peguero at first base.
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Pirates' Spencer Horwitz: Heating up in August
Rotowire
Horwitz went 2-for-5 with a double, one run scored and one RBI on Sunday against the Reds.
Horwitz has had an inconsistent season as Pittsburgh's primary first baseman, but he's delivered throughout the early portions of August. He has gone 12-for-35 with two homers, nine RBI and eight runs scored across 10 starts in the month. Horwitz is now hitting .266 for the season, though he's provided very little pop with only a .124 ISO.
