The start of pitchers and catchers reporting to camp officially marks baseball’s return, at least for most. It’s also the time of the year when teams typically provide news dumps of injury updates from over the off-season.

Unfortunately, former Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Spencer Horwitz was included in Wednesday’s news cycle as the Pittsburgh Pirates announced he underwent surgery on his right wrist last week to resolve a nagging issue. The team expects him to miss roughly six to eight weeks following his procedure, delaying the start of his Bucs tenure.

Horwitz was packaged with outfield prospect Nick Mitchell to the Cleveland Guardians in a blockbuster trade for defensive wizard Andrés Giménez and reliever Nick Sandlin last November. He was quickly rerouted to the Pirates organization in a separate deal shortly afterwards, sending three pitchers — Josh Hartle, Michael Kennedy and Luis Ortiz — the other way.

The 27-year-old played 97 games with Toronto last season, hitting .265/.357/.433 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 381 plate appearances. He also posted a 127 wRC+ (100 league average), accounting for 1.9 fWAR.

Pirates GM Ben Cherington admitted Wednesday that the club was aware of Horwitz’s wrist issues at the time of the trade. But they felt comfortable enough to move forward with the deal anyway.

Without Horwitz, who isn’t arbitration-eligible until after 2026, Pittsburgh will likely rotate multiple bodies through first base until he returns, including Endy Rodríguez, Jared Triolo and Adam Frazier.

In other news, the Pirates added another former Blue Jays hitter to their organization on Wednesday, announcing Daniel Vogelbach has signed on as a special assistant to the club’s hitting department. He’ll work alongside new hitting coach Matt Hague, who served as an assistant in Toronto a season ago.

The 32-year-old slugger only appeared in 31 contests with Toronto before being released, struggling to a .186/.278/.300 slash line while clubbing just one home run and driving in eight. He also registered a measly 69 wRC+ during his limited sample size.

Together, Vogelbach and Hague will oversee Pittsburgh’s lineup in 2025, which, despite Horwitz’s absence, features another former Blue Jay, Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He was acquired in a deal ahead of last season’s trade deadline for infield prospect Charles McAdoo.