Spencer Elliott Horwitz...Is a 2016 graduate of St. Paul’s (Md.) School for Boys, where he was a three-year team captain, two-time MIAA First Team selection and two-time MIAA All-Conference honoree (he was primarily a catcher during high school)...Also helped guide St. Paul’s hockey team to MIAA state championships as a defenseman in 2014 and 2015 (he scored the game-winning goal in the 2015 title game)...Attended Radford (Va.) University (2017-19), where he hit .288 (184-for-638) with 34 doubles, 25 home runs, 118 RBI and an .849 OPS across three collegiate seasons...Was named to the All-Big South Conference Second Team as a freshman in 2017 and a sophomore in 2018...Was teammates with Jared Triolo and Alika Williams while playing for Bourne in the 2018 Cape Cod League...Was signed by Blue Jays scout Coulson Barbiche.
2025
Did not appear in any spring games and started the season on the 15-day injured list after undergoing right wrist surgery on Feb. 5 (performed by Dr. Thomas Graham in Allentown, Pa.)...Began a rehab assignment with Altoona on April 27 at Chesapeake and appeared in five games with the Curve from April 27-May 4 before having his rehab transferred to Indianapolis on May 6...Hit a solo home run off Louisville’s Yosver Zulueta on May 15 in his final rehab at-bat before being returned from his assignment on May 16...Hit a combined .255 (12-for-47) with three doubles, one home run, two RBI, three walks and seven runs scored in 13 rehab games split between Altoona and Indianapolis...Was reinstated from the IL on May 17 and made his Pittsburgh debut that night at Philadelphia, going 0-for-2 while starting at first base...Hit his first Pirates home run with his solo shot off Milwaukee’s Aaron Civale on May 22..Hit safely in a career-high seven straight games from June 11-20, going 8-for-27 (.296)...Also reached base safely in a career-best 15 straight games from June 9-28...Hit his first career leadoff home run off St. Louis’ Erick Fedde on June 30...Became one of three Pirates first basemen since at least 1900 to hit a leadoff home run in a regular-season game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, along with Gary Redus (four) from 1990-92 and John Jaso (three) in 2016 (Liover Peguero went on to do that during his three-homer game on Aug. 2 at Colorado)...Had three hits on both July 21 and July 22 vs. Detroit, then followed that with his first career grand slam off Detroit’s Troy Melton on July 23...Became only the second Pirate since at least 1900 to have a three-game stretch where he had at least three hits in two of the games and a grand slam in the other game, per Elias, along with Andre Rogers from May 23-25, 1965...Recorded a career-high six RBI while homering twice on Aug. 3 at Colorado (his eighth-inning home run off Ryan Rolison was his first career homer off a left-handed pitcher)...Had another seven-game hitting streak from July 28-Aug. 5, going 12-for-28 (.429)...Homered in his return to the Baltimore area on Sept. 10 at Camden Yards (grew up approximately 15 miles north of the stadium)...Went deep in a second straight start on Sept. 12 at Washington, marking his second time homering in back-to-back starts (also Aug. 20-21, 2024 with Toronto vs. Cincinnati)...Had three hits (including two home runs), four RBI, two walks and three runs scored on Sept. 26 at Atlanta...Joined Ralph Kiner (Aug. 16, 1947 vs. St. Louis), Brian Giles (Sept. 27, 2002 at Chicago-NL) and Craig Wilson (May 11, 2004 at Colorado) as the only Pirates in the Modern Era (since 1901) to post those stats or better in a game...Made his only appearance/start of the season at second base on Sept. 27 at Atlanta...Went 10-for-17 (.588) with three doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, three walks, five runs scored and a 1.768 OPS in five games from Sept. 23-27...Posted a .314 (60-for-191) batting average from July 21 through the end of the regular season, the seventh-best mark in all of Major League Baseball among those with at least 200 plate appearances (his .941 OPS in that time ranked ninth in MLB)...Made only four errors in 716 total chances at first base.
2024
Began the season with Buffalo (Blue Jays' AAA), where he made 31 starts at first base, 11 at second base and three in left field...Went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI on Opening Day (3/29 vs. Scranton/WB)…Walked four times on 4/6 at Worcester...Had four straight multi-hit games from 4/6-10...Hit .342 (26-for-76) and produced a .490 OBP in 21 games during the month of April...Hit safely in 10 of his first 11 games in May and had a .343 season average through the action on 5/11...Went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a homer and six RBI on 6/1 at Syracuse...Was recalled by Toronto on 6/7 and spent the remainder of the season in the big leagues... Reached base safely in each of his first 17 starts from 6/8-7/2, matching Bo Bichette (2019) for the longest streak to start a season by a rookie in franchise history...Homered twice on 6/23 at Cleveland...Had a career-high four hits and produced his second two-homer game on 9/7 at Atlanta; also tied club rookie record for most total bases in a game (11)...Homered as a pinch hitter on 9/8 at Atlanta, giving him home runs in back-to-back games...Made 41 appearances (32 starts) at first base and 39 appearances (37 starts) at second base... Also made 17 starts as the DH...Hit all 12 of his home runs with the Blue Jays off RHP...Led all qualified MLB rookies in OBP.
2023
Named the Bisons’ Stan Barron Most Valuable Player for 2023...Led the International League with a .450 OBP, breaking the franchise’s modern era single-season record by 26 points...Also voted as the IL’s best defensive infielder by league managers in a Baseball America poll.. Recalled by Toronto on June 16... Made his MLB Debut on June 18 at TEX, singling in his first at-bat off Jon Gray in the second inning, finishing the game 1-for-2 with an RBI and two walks...Became the 4th player in club history with a hit, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored in his MLB debut, joining Devon Travis (April 6, 2015 at NYY), Eric Thames (May 18, 2011 vs. TB), and Eric Hinske on April 1, 2002 at BOS)... Optioned on June 21 and recalled again on Sept. 1... Hit his first career home run on Sept. 3 at COL, a 442-foot solo shot off Chase Anderson in the fourth inning...Finished 3-for-4 on the day for his first career three-hit game... Drove in a run with a 10-inning double on Sept. 4 at OAK, his first career extra-inning knock... Went 1-for-4 with a walk and a career-high three RBI on Sept. 20 at NYY... Appeared in 107 games for Triple-A Buffalo, hitting .337 (132-for-392) with 41 extra-base hits and 72 RBI (.945 OPS).
2022
Split his third professional campaign between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo...Combined to hit .275 (111- for-403) over 114 contests with 33 doubles, a triple, 12 homers and 51 RBI while drawing 73 walks (.391 OBP, .843 OPS)... Listed as having the Best Strike-Zone Discipline in the organization by Baseball America at the end of the year... Added to the 40-man roster after the season to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
2021
Spent the majority of the season with Vancouver (Blue Jays' High-A)...Set a league record with his 28-game hitting streak from Aug. 10-Sept. 10, snapping Gary Johnson's 26-game streak from 1962...Hit .434 (49-for-113) with 12 doubles, seven home runs, 33 RBI, 19 walks, 26 runs scored and a 1.241 OPS during his streak...Was promoted to New Hampshire on Sept. 14...Hit a combined .294 (119-for-405) with 30 doubles, 12 home runs, 66 RBI, 70 walks, 68 runs and an .862 OPS in 109 games split between Vancouver and New Hampshire...Ranked second among all Toronto Minor League players in hits and doubles, third in walks, runs and extra-base hits (43), fourth in RBI and total bases (187) and tied for seventh in home runs (was second among all full-season players in batting and OBP, sixth in OPS and seventh in slugging)...Was named to the Arizona Fall League’s Rising Stars Team after hitting .375 (24-for-64) in 16 games with the Mesa Solar Sox.
2020
Did not play during the entire year due to COVID-19.
2019
Made his professional debut with Bluefield (Blue Jays' Rookie-Level)...Collected his first hit on June 19 at Elizabethton...Hit his first home run on June 27 vs. Danville, a solo home run in an 8-6 win...Recorded an RBI in five consecutive games from July 2-7 (11 RBI total)...Was named an Appalachian League All-Star (post-season) after ranking third in the league in batting, hits and doubles, as well as tied for third in RBI...Was promoted to Vancouver (Blue Jays' Class-A, Short-Season) on Aug. 24...Batted a combined .306 (76-for-248) with 19 doubles, four homers, 52 RBI, 24 walks, 37 runs and an .808 OPS over 60 games split between Bluefield and Vancouver.
