PITTSBURGH -- Coming into this season, Bryan Reynolds, Spencer Horwitz and Tommy Pham were projected to be three of the catalysts for this Pirates offense. Reynolds has been the most consistent bat in the lineup for years and was coming off of an All-Star campaign, while Horwitz and Pham were additions for two of the team’s greatest areas of need going into the winter: first base and corner outfield.
The first half of the 2025 campaign has mostly not been kind for that trio, all of whom are posting numbers below their career norms for a variety of reasons. Sunday afternoon was a much-needed departure from that, as Reynolds, Pham and Horwitz each picked up three hits to carry the Pirates to an 8-3 win over the Rangers at PNC Park.
Pham lifted a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to tie the game at two, and then he and Horwitz added RBI doubles in a five-run fifth inning that served as the difference in the game. Pham had three RBIs and two doubles, Horwitz two doubles and two runs scored and Reynolds a double and a walk.
Perhaps it was just a good day for those three. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come and an indicator that the back nine of their season will go smoother. There are signs indicating that the latter is possible.
For Reynolds, he just needs to be rewarded for his hard contact again. Coming into play Sunday, Reynolds’ average exit velocity (91.3 mph) was a career best. He’s hitting .226 with a .364 slugging percentage this season, but going by his expected metrics (which weighs how he’s striking the ball, with walks and strikeouts), he had an xBA of .266 and xSLG of .496. That’s right in line with what he’s done throughout his career, if not a tad better.
“Obviously we want the expected to match up with the actual, but sometimes that doesn’t work out,” Reynolds said. “Just got to keep going and moving forward.”
Pham’s main issue hasn’t been mechanical, in his opinion, but his eyes. He shared postgame that his contacts have been an issue this season, and that he’s been changing his prescription weekly, though he did add that he’s “pretty optimistic going forward now.”
Throughout Pham's struggles on the field, manager Don Kelly has pointed out that he has been one of the hardest workers around, always standing by the railing when he’s not playing and doing the extra work of someone with 10 days of service time rather than 10 years.
"You've got to keep going, man,” Pham said. “You've got to keep working. If you give up, your team will give up on you. There's a reason why they've been sticking with me, 'cause day in, day out, they see me putting in the work."
Horwitz's case might be the most open and shut: He’s still working back from his offseason right wrist injury that sidelined him until May. He has reached base safely in his past nine games, and his two doubles Sunday finally boosted his slugging percentage.
Now with more than 100 plate appearances on the season, Horwitz feels he has a better understanding of what he needs to work on to get swings like his fifth inning double, which was hit hard, in the air and to his pull side.
“I’m starting to get, not comfortable, but can start to look at some data, some information, and get some feedback,” he said.
Will all three hitters do a 180 on their season? The odds probably aren’t great for that three-leg parlay, but games like Sunday could be a start. This offense ranks near, or at, the bottom of almost all key offensive categories, and the best way to get it going is with more contributions from key hitters in the lineup like these three.
“I think that today was indicative of the type of at-bats that we need to have going up there,” Kelly said. “Nick Gonzales goes the other way. Bryan Reynolds goes the other way. Spencer hit that ball the other way and then ended up getting some knocks pull-side. But how do we stay within and take what they give us and knock in some runs? We did a good job of that today."