Biography
Spencer Elliott Horwitz (born November 14, 1997) is an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays selected him in the 24th round of the 2019 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2023. Horwitz played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Early life and high school
Horwitz is the son of David and Laura Horwitz, and has a brother, Ben. He was born in Timonium, Maryland. He is Jewish.
He attended St. Paul's School for Boys in Brooklandville, Maryland. Playing baseball for the school, primarily at catcher, Horwitz was a 2016 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) First Team selection, and twice MIAA All-Conference. In hockey he played as a defenseman, and led the high school to two state championships.
College
Horwitz then played college baseball at Radford University, playing 161 games at first base and 6 games in left field. In 2017 as a freshman, Horwitz batted .311/.384/.481 in 206 at bats, and was named Big South Conference Second Team, and a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All American.
In 2018, Horwitz batted .288/.386/.443 in 219 at bats, had 43 runs batted in (RBIs) (7th in the Conference) and 34 walks (9th; the same as his number of strikeouts), and was again named Big South Conference Second Team. After the 2018 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 2019 he batted .268/.392/.465 in 213 at bats, led the league with 49 walks (against only 29 strikeouts) and 7 sacrifice flies, had 49 runs (6th) and 10 home runs (7th), and was named Big South Conference Honorable Mention.
Professional career
Toronto Blue Jays
2019–21
The Toronto Blue Jays selected Horwitz in the 24th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He signed for a $100,000 signing bonus.
Horwitz spent his first professional season in 2019 with the Rookie League Bluefield Blue Jays and Low–A Vancouver Canadians. He batted a combined .307/.368/.440, as in 248 at bats he had 4 home runs, 52 RBIs, stole 5 bases without being caught, and walked 24 times (while striking out 30 times). He played 26 games at first base, 18 games in left field, and two games at second base. With Bluefield, he batted .330 (6th in the Appalachian League)/.395/.471, with 18 doubles (3rd), 49 RBIs (3rd), and 3 sacrifice flies (10th). He was named a 2019 Appalachian League Post-Season All Star. Horwitz did not play in 2020 due to the Minor League Baseball season being cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Horwitz returned in 2021 to play for the now High–A Vancouver Canadians and for the Double–A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He batted a combined .294/.400/.462, as in 405 at bats he had 12 home runs and 66 RBIs, and 70 walks (versus 68 strikeouts). He played 85 games at first base, five games in left field, and one game at second base. With Vancouver, he led the High-A West with 28 doubles and 70 walks (to only 66 strikeouts), and had a .401 on-base percentage (9th) with 65 runs (6th), 62 RBIs (5th), and 5 sacrifice flies (3rd). He had a 28-game hitting streak, breaking a 60-year-old Northwest League/High A-West League record. He was named the Northwest League’s 2021 Top MLB Prospect, and a Northwest League Post-Season All Star.
After the season, Horwitz played for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, where he batted .375 (6th in the league)/.460(9th)/.484 in 64 at bats, with 4 stolen bases (9th in the league) without being caught, as he played 12 games at first base and two games in left field. He was named an Arizona Fall League Rising Star. MLB.com named him Toronto's #30 prospect.
2022–23
Horwitz started 2022 with New Hampshire, and was named Eastern League Player of the Week on June 13. In July, as he was among the Eastern League leaders batting .297(4th)/.413/.517 in 232 at bats, with 46 runs (4th), 19 doubles (4th), and 43 walks (5th), he was promoted to the Triple–A Buffalo Bisons. In 2022, between the two teams he batted .275/.391/.452 in 403 at bats with 77 runs, 12 home runs, and 51 RBIs, while playing 73 games at first base and 20 games in left field.
On November 15, 2022, Horwitz was added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. He was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to begin the 2023 season. Baseball America named him the Jays’ #14 prospect.
For the 2023 season with Buffalo in Triple A, he batted .337(9th in the International League)/.450(leading the league, and second in Triple–A baseball)/.495 with a .945 OPS (2nd) in 392 at bats with 30 doubles (7th), 78 walks (4th) against 72 strikeouts, 6 sacrifice flies (4th), and 3 intentional walks (leading the league), while hitting .360 with runners in scoring position and primarily playing first base (at which position he was voted the league's best defensive infielder in a Baseball America poll of league managers). His 16.1% walk percentage was 5th-highest in the league, and his 14.9% strikeouts percentage was 9th-lowest. Against right-handed pitchers, he batted .368/.490/.556. Horwitz was named the Bisons' 2023 team MVP.
On June 16, 2023, Horwitz was promoted to the major leagues for the first time after outfielder Nathan Lukes was optioned to Triple–A. On June 18, 2023, he made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays, and collected his first MLB hit off of Texas Rangers pitcher Jon Gray. He hit his first major-league home run (a solo shot) in a 7-5 win against the Colorado Rockies on September 3, 2023. In 39 at bats for the Blue Jays he hit .256/.341/.385.
In June 2023, when Spencer Horwitz was promoted to the major leagues, New York Mets Media Relations Director Jay Horwitz tweeted a photo of the two of them together, and jokingly captioned it "Congrats to my grandson Spencer Horwitz on his promotion to the Blue Jays. A proud grandpa Jay." Although the two of them are not related. Spencer said: “Jay was our public relations guy for Team Israel during the WBC.... And it just kind of blew up. A lot of people still come up to me and say, 'Hey, I know your grandfather really well.' Then everyone is a little disappointed when I tell them that (it’s not true)."
2024
In January 2024, MLB Pipeline ranked Horwitz #9 on its Top 10 1B Prospects list. He was optioned to Triple–A Buffalo to begin the 2024 season, where he batted .335(4th in the league)/.456(2nd)/.514/.970(7th) in 212 at bats, as he was leading the league at the time of his call-up in doubles (22). Horwitz was called up to the Blue Jays on June 6, 2024, after the club designated Cavan Biggio for assignment.
In 2024 for the Blue Jays, he batted .265/.357(11th in the AL of all batters with 350 plate appearances)/.433 with 46 runs, 12 home runs, and 40 RBIs in 328 at bats. On defense, he played 41 games at first base and 39 games at second base, and was the designated hitter in 17 games. Among AL rookies with 350 or more plate appearances, he was first in batting average and on base percentage, second in OPS (.790), low strikeout percentage (18.4%), and contact percentage (83.0%), and third in walk percentage (11.0%) and hit by pitch (7). He earned a salary of $741,900.
Pittsburgh Pirates
On December 10, 2024, Horwitz, alongside Nick Mitchell, was traded to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for Andrés Giménez and Nick Sandlin. On the same day, Horwitz was then traded by the Guardians to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Luis Ortiz, Michael Kennedy, and Josh Hartle.
International career
Horwitz played for the Israeli national baseball team roster in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He played left field for Team Israel manager and former All-Star Ian Kinsler, and alongside All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson and starting pitcher Dean Kremer, among others.