The Pirates have some offseason arbitration business to sort out, and Spencer Horwitz stands out because his case is a little different from the usual one.
Horwitz is entering his first year of arbitration, but he got there without the standard three years of service time most players have when they move past the pre-arb stage. Instead, he’s one of the rare Super Two players, which puts him in arbitration eligibility on a separate track.
MLB set the Super Two cutoff at two years and 133 days, per Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, or 2.133 in numerical form. Players in that group need 86 days on an MLB active roster or injured list in the previous season, and they can’t be on a guaranteed contract such as an extension. Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin signed a nine-year, $140 million contract extension in April, so he’ll never have to go through arbitration at all.
Horwitz has two years and 152 days of service time, or 2.152, which makes him Super Two eligible. Even with that status, the arbitration process itself works the same way: Horwitz will submit a salary figure, the Pirates will submit theirs, and if there’s no agreement, an arbitration panel will hear both sides and choose one for the 2027 salary.
A projected salary of $2.5 million is attached to Horwitz for 2027, and that’s a number both sides are expected to land on.
The Pirates are hoping the version of Horwitz they saw before the break is the one that shows up going forward. His 2026 season split into two very different stretches. Over his first 74 games, he was hitting .280/.386/.455 with an .841 OPS, along with 69 hits, 11 doubles, 10 home runs, 33 RBI and 40 walks against 40 strikeouts.
That strong start earned him attention before a left hamstring injury sent him to the 10-day injured list on June 24. At that point, he ranked sixth in the National League and 12th in MLB with a .386 on-base percentage, and his 40 walks were tied for 13th in the National League and tied for 27th in MLB.
Horwitz didn’t return until Aug. 2, and that comeback came after he also missed time because of a concussion suffered during his rehab assignment. From there, the production disappeared. In his final 40 games, he hit .180/.263/.201 for a .464 OPS, with 25 hits in 139 at-bats, three doubles, no home runs, 16 RBI and 14 walks to 33 strikeouts.
After the injury return, Horwitz was among the least productive hitters in the league, finishing with the lowest slugging percentage at .201, the second-lowest OPS, the eighth-lowest batting average and the 11th-lowest on-base percentage.
For Pittsburgh, the ask is clear: take the early version of Horwitz and stretch it across all of 2027. The Pirates need the plate discipline, the pop and the lineup versatility he showed in the first half if they’re going to build toward a postseason run.
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