PITTSBURGH – It was pretty quiet in the Pirates’ clubhouse this weekend after they were swept by the White Sox. The team came out of the All-Star break flat and paid the price.
Leaving the clubhouse on a quiet Saturday night, there was one source of noise not too far down PNC Park’s tunnels. It was Spencer Horwitz taking extra swings in the indoor batting cage.
"They've been after it since Spence got back,” manager Don Kelly said, also referencing hitting coach Matt Hague. “He was in a tough spot, coming off the injury, new team, big trade, you can feel the pressure when you're in that situation.”
It’s been a challenging first season in black and gold for Horwitz, whether it was starting the season on the injured list or that slump that had him taking extra swings after a hitless night.
That extra work paid off this series against the Tigers. After back-to-back three-hit games on Monday and Tuesday, Horwitz delivered a grand slam Wednesday to help the Pirates complete their home sweep of the Tigers, winning 6-1.
Rounding first base after that Troy Melton cutter was deposited into the center-field seats, Horwitz turned back to first-base coach Tarik Brock and let out a roar while pumping his fists. It was a shot that gave the Pirates all the momentum, jumping ahead 5-0 in the second inning, and the emotion that came with his first grand slam needed a cathartic release.
“That was just a pure emotion of anger that I've had built up this past month and excitement for my first career grand slam,” Horwitz said.
That homer was Horwitz’s only hit of the game, though he did hit a couple of line drives that didn’t go his way and found an infielder. It’s safe to say the swing is in a better spot and the work is yielding better things.
“I don't know that it's been that bad,” Horwitz said. “I think the underlying numbers have been pretty good. But yeah, I'm getting the outward results. And I think it's rewarding, for sure.”
The most notable change is Horwitz has opened up his stance lately. He was more closed off earlier in July, and before this series against the Tigers, he had been hitting just .133 with no extra-base hits over his 50 plate appearances in the month. So the stance opened up, changing his approach angle. Any other minor changes – like his bat angle or his perceived setup – are a product of that tweak.
“[I] just tried to change my direction through the middle of the field,” Horwitz explained.
It’s certainly working now, and the middle of the field is generally a great place for Horwitz to be. Entering play Wednesday, he had a .388 batting average and .449 slugging percentage on straightaway batted balls.
Horwitz’s homer was all the offensive support Bailey Falter needed. The Pirates’ southpaw shrugged off his recent slump to turn in one of his best outings of the campaign, striking out a season-high eight batters over seven innings. He filled up the zone with fastballs for strikes, not issuing a free pass, which allowed him to mix in some offspeed and breaking stuff, too.
“Just trying to get back on course, honestly,” Falter said. “I mean, all these guys in the locker room have been picking me up this past month and a half, two months coming up on. So [it] definitely felt good to go out there and do that for these guys in this locker room because they don't take a pitch off for me.”
So much conversation this year has been centered around trying to support the pitching staff. Getting someone like Horwitz to produce at the top of the lineup would go a long way towards accomplishing that. He got a taste of that success Wednesday.
“Bliss. Grateful. All of the above,” Horwitz said when describing the emotions of his homer. “It felt like a debut again. When you do something for the first time, it's always exciting.”