Blue Jays Promote Spencer Horwitz

The Blue Jays recalled first baseman/corner outfielder Spencer Horwitz from Triple-A Buffalo this afternoon. Reliever Tom Hatch was optioned in a corresponding move.

It’s the first big league call for the 25-year-old Horwitz. He’s not in tonight’s starting lineup but will be available off the bench against the Rangers to potentially make his MLB debut. It’s the culmination of a strong four-year run in the minors since entering pro ball with little fanfare as a 24th round pick out of Radford in 2019.

He’s handily surpassed draft expectations by raking in pro ball. Horwitz is a career .292/.395/.445 hitter in the minor leagues. A huge Double-A showing in 2022 earned him a late-season bump to the top minor league level. He was added to Toronto’s 40-man roster last winter to ensure they didn’t lose him in the Rule 5 draft and tabbed to represent Israel in March’s World Baseball Classic.

Since the season got underway, Horwitz has continued to produce against Triple-A pitching. He’s gotten into 57 games for the Bisons, hitting .300/.421/.405 over 259 trips to the plate. He has only cleared the fences twice, but he’s walking at an outstanding 16.2% clip while keeping his strikeouts to a modest 17.8% rate. Baseball America unsurprisingly lauded his strike zone awareness in recently naming him the Jays’ #14 prospect.

Listed at 5’10”, Horwitz doesn’t have the prototypical power associated with a player who’s limited to the bottom of the defensive spectrum. Evaluators have raised questions about whether he’ll be an impactful enough slugger to play every day while manning first base or a corner outfield position. There’s little doubt about his ability to get on base, though. He’ll add some left-handed balance to a club that recently lost Brandon Belt to the injured list.