Spencer Horwitz’s stellar play has ignited playing time debate: ‘It’s tough to take him out of the lineup’
By Thomas Hall
2 days agoSpencer Horwitz is proving he needs to be in the lineup as often as possible.
It’s nearly been one month since the Toronto Blue Jays designated Cavan Biggio for assignment to make room on the 26-man roster for Horwitz, who’s exploded at the plate during his second big-league stint. He’s only played 22 games but already has 19 hits in 63 at-bats for a .302 AVG.
The 26-year-old has walked (12) more than he’s struck out (nine) and has reached base safely in 17 of the 21 games where he’s earned at least one plate appearance. Most impressively, though, the left-handed-hitting infielder has hit for power — an offensive trait, or a lack thereof, that many previously believed would hinder his development into an impact major league player.
That was the biggest criticism of Horwitz’s craft in the minors. He’s an excellent contact hitter with remarkable plate discipline, but few were confident he’d prove to be anything more. By moving to second base and providing defensive versatility beyond first base, he’s earned the opportunity to show he can also do damage, as he owns six extra-base hits (three home runs) with a .492 SLG and .190 ISO.
Entering Wednesday’s contest against the Houston Astros, Horwitz carries an outstanding 168 wRC+, good for 68 per cent above league average. That ties him with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for second on the team in that category since June 8, trailing only the red-hot Justin Turner, whose 174 score leads the club.
If not for Guerrero and Toronto’s platoon DH of Turner and Daniel Vogelbach, Horwitz surely would’ve been recalled long before the road trip to Oakland in early June. Instead, those first two months afforded him a runway to further develop his skills at second base, where he had less than 60 innings of professional experience heading into 2024.
Now, it’s opened up a whole new range of possibilities for his big-league future. No longer is he stuck at triple-A Buffalo regardless of his performance because he plays first base. These days, he’s forcing the envelope to become an everyday player on an underperforming Blue Jays squad that could look very different in the coming weeks leading up to the July 30 trade deadline.
“When you think of a first baseman, you think of a guy like [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.], who is hitting the ball hard, hitting home runs and driving runs in,” manager John Schneider told reporters Tuesday, including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “Spencer can do that, but when you look at the overall quality of his at-bats — not being in a rush, having a plan every single time — that’s the impressive part. When you add in some defensive versatility to it, it’s tough to take him out of the lineup.”
With Toronto seemingly out of the wild-card hunt, there’s little harm in playing Horwitz every day, or at least as much as possible in the second half. He’ll probably have to adjust to that role anyway if the front office finds a suitor for Turner, who’s a free agent after this season.
Given how the 2019 24th-round selection has performed, he has earned as much playing time as he can handle. If anything, you can argue that he should consistently hit leadoff moving forward, too.
Source: Baseball Savant
The Blue Jays have largely stayed away from deploying Horwitz versus left-handed pitching, as he only has six plate appearances against lefties since joining the team. While he’s historically fared better while facing righties, he held his own versus southpaws last season, albeit at triple-A, hitting .261 with a .350 OBP, 16 walks and 21 strikeouts across 115 at-bats.
It’s time to find out what exactly they have in Horwitz as the priority shifts from contending in 2024 to assembling a more competitive roster for a return to contention in ’25.
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