2 former first-rounders the Pirates could trade for to create Spencer Horwitz platoon

The Pittsburgh Pirates may have found their answer at first base when they acquired Spencer Horwitz from the Cleveland Guardians. But while Horwitz is coming off an impressive rookie season, it wasn’t without its flaws. Horwitz crushed right-handed pitching, putting up an .864 OPS, .373 wOBA, and 147 wRC+. But when Horwitz went up against a lefty, he had a meager .522 OPS, .239 wOBA, and 53 wRC+.

Sure, Horwitz had less than 100 plate appearances against lefties, and now he’s working under the tutelage of Matt Hague, who might be able to help him hit better against same-handed pitchers. But instead of banking on a total talent turnaround, the Pirates could try to resolve this by acquiring another player who could shield Horwitz from lefties. The Pirates should consider taking a low-cost flier on one of two former top prospects and high-end draft picks who might be available.

2 former top draft picks Pirates should trade for to platoon with Spencer Horwitz

Spencer Torkelson

Spencer Torkelson was considered the best player in the 2020 draft. He was taken by the Detroit Tigers and signed a then record-setting $8,416,300 signing bonus. The infielder made his debut in 2022, but didn’t hit the ground running. 2023 looked like the start of a breakout for Tork. He hit .233/.313/.446 with a .326 wOBA, and 108 wRC+. He slugged 31 home runs in 684 plate appearances with a .213 isolated slugging percentage. Although he struck out a quarter of the time, he walked at a solid 9.8% clip.

Torkelson looked like he was on the verge of a breakout beyond those numbers. He ended the 2023 campaign in the 77th percentile of xwOBA (.349) while being above the 80th percentile of xSLG% (.484), exit velocity (91.8 MPH), and barrel rate (14.1%). Unfortunately, despite the high expectations, Torkelson fell well short of even his 2023 standard last season.

He hit just .219/.295/.374 with a .295 wOBA, and 92 wRC+. Torkelson only hit ten homers in 381 plate appearances with an ISO of .155. His walk rate decreased to 8.7%, but more worryingly, his K% shot up to 27.4%. Torkelson saw a huge decrease in his average exit velocity to just 89.7 MPH, as well as his barrel rate to 6.7%.

But Torkelson hit lefties very well in 2023. He owned an .829 OPS, .344 wOBA, and 121 wRC+ across 161 plate appearances. For what it’s worth, Torkelson was still good against lefties this past year, too, even if it was a down season overall and occurred in a small sample size. He had a .798 OPS, .336 wOBA, and 122 wRC+, albeit in just 89 plate appearances. 

Torkelson hasn’t done much with the glove, with -12 defensive runs saved and -9 outs above average since his 2022 debut, but the Tigers might be willing to sell extremely low on Tork, as their infield crowds. The addition of Gleyber Torres pushes Colt Keith to first base, leaving Torkelson without a defined position. At the very least, Torkelson would be a decent depth addition, as he still has a minor-league option remaining.

Andrew Vaughn

A year before Torkelson was drafted, Andrew Vaughn was considered one of the best players in the 2019 draft. MLB Pipeline ranked Vaughn as the third-best prospect available, and he was eventually selected third overall by the Chicago White Sox. Like Torkelson, Vaughn was projected to be a big-time slugger. But so far, he’s only amounted to about a league-average hitter.

Vaughn is a career .253/.310/.415 batter with a .315 wOBA, and 102 wRC+. He has a healthy 20.3% K%, but does not draw walks that frequently. His BB% is just 6.3%. His power output hasn’t matched that of his expectations when he was still a prospect. He has 72 home runs in 2,258 plate appearances and has hit at least 15 homers each season with a .162 ISO, which is solid, albeit unspectacular.

Those numbers may not jump off the page, but he’s consistently been a threat against LHP. Vaughn is a career .270/.335/.436 hitter when facing a southpaw. He rarely strikes out, with a 16.6% K%, and draws walks at a respectable 8.4% rate. His .166 isolated slugging percentage is also slightly better than average. Last season, Vaughn had a .772 OPS, .335 wOBA, and 119 wRC+ vs LHP.

Vaughn also has some solid numbers under the hood. He was above the 60th percentile of exit velo (90.3 MPH) and barrel rate (9.3%) in 2024. The first baseman had a .319 xwOBA, which was above average and better than his .304 wOBA for the season. Vaughn has a career .474 xSLG%, .347 xwOBA, 92.6 MPH exit velocity, and 9.8% barrel rate when facing lefty arms. Among 111 batters with at least 500 plate appearances against LHP since 2021, Vaughn has the ninth-best exit velo, 36th-best expected slugging percentage, and 43rd-best barrel rate.

Vaughn hasn’t provided much value at first base as a defender, with only -9 defensive runs saved and -19 outs above average throughout his career, and he is controlled through 2026. With how inexpensive low-cost first basemen with expiring control have been recently, the Pirates should at least consider Vaughn if they opt to look for a platoon mate for Horwitz.