Adding a designated hitter would put Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz in a tough spot for Opening Day

Last season, the Toronto Blue Jays had five position players get their first taste of big league action, one of which was Spencer Horwitz, a product of the 2019 MLB Draft via the 24th round.

When Brandon Belt went to the IL in mid-June with hamstring tightness earlier this year, the Jays called on Horwitz from triple-A, as the lefty-batter was hitting for a .300 average and owned a .421 OPS as a mainstay on the Bisons roster. He made his big league debut in Texas, slotting in as the DH in the last game of the series opposite right-hander Jon Gray. In his first at-bat, Horwitz got the first Major League hit out of the way, driving a fastball through the right side of the infield for a single. This would be followed up with his first RBI, which came in the third inning when he mustered a slow dribbler up the right side off reliever John King and scored Daulton Varsho from third base, giving the Jays a 6-0 lead (they eventually lost 11-7).

This stint lasted just three games before Horwitz was moved back to Buffalo when Belt came back off the IL, with the Radford University product returning to the big league squad in September when the rosters expanded. He stayed for most of September, eventually being optioned back with Cam Eden on the roster and Belt once again coming back from another IL stint. For the year, Horwitz finished with a .256/.341/.385 slash line through 15 games and 39 at-bats with the Jays, working mostly in a bench/pinch hitter capacity. The Maryland product authored a .726 OPS through the small sample size and crossed off another first during his second stint, crushing a Chase Anderson inside fastball into the Colorado Rockies bullpen to tie the game in the fourth inning.

The potential impact of free agent signings on Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz

Just like Belt, Horwitz features as a 1B/DH type, as the 26-year-old has spent most of his minor league career on the right side of the diamond with a few stints in left field as well, suiting up 24 times in the corner outfield spot for the Bisons last year. At first base, Horwitz boasts a .995 fielding percentage through 2118 innings across different levels in the minors, only recently starting to work as a DH last year with both Buffalo and Toronto.

Heading into the 2024 season, Horwitz will be one of the handful of infield prospects looking to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster. With the recent departures of Belt, Matt Chapman, and Whit Merrifield and the recent additions of Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, there appears to be limited space on the Blue Jays infield and bench heading into next season for the number of players looking to make a more permanent jump. Kiner-Falefa, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, Cavan Biggio, and Santiago Espinal appear to be ‘locks’ heading into the new season and along with the outfield core three (and a max of 13 pitchers and 13 position players on the roster), there appear to be just three spots up for grabs and that’s not including any potential free agency additions.

After the Blue Jays put up middle-of-the-pack collective numbers offensively last season, the front office has made it apparent that the club needs at least another bat to compliment the lineup, especially with the departures of Chapman and Belt to free agency. While the likes of Guerrero Jr., Kirk, and Springer did not put up strong offensive numbers last season, the club is expecting the bats to regain form this upcoming year which will hopefully be aided by the addition of at least one bat this offseason and the numerous additional coaches being brought in to assist with the development. Considering there are numerous free agents who fit the bill of what the Jays need (Jorge Soler, Rhys Hoskins, J.D. Martinez, Carlos Santana, Joc Pederson, and Cody Bellinger if Ross Atkins wants to spend big), any player who takes a spot on the roster is another spot gone for internal players barring a trade or DFA.