Pirates Injury Update: Spencer Horwitz, Bryan Reynolds, Jared Jones

Pittsburgh Pirates fans have yet to see Spencer Horwitz in action this season, as the first baseman was sidelined during spring training while recovering from offseason wrist surgery. However, a recent update from Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk indicated that Horwitz is trending in a positive direction in his recovery.

“He is trending in a really good position to have conversations with the performance team, (Derek Shelton) and Ben (Cherington) about how and when we can consider rehab games, hopefully later this month or early next," Tomczyk said (via Kevin Gorman of TribLive). "He's in a really good spot."

Horwitz has progressed to taking batting practice, throwing and fielding ground balls with no restrictions while he continues ramping up his volume of work at the plate. He is still a few weeks away from a rehab assignment and will join the team on the road in Cincinnati this weekend.

Pirates Injury Update: Bryan Reynolds, Jared Jones, Jared Triolo & more

In addition to Horwitz, Tomczyk provided updates on a number of injured Pirates players when he spoke to the media this week.

Outfielder Bryan Reynolds is dealing with a teres major muscle strain in the back of his shoulder – not the tricep, as was originally reported – that had limited his ability to throw. As of Wednesday, per Tomczyk, Reynolds had played catch up to 70 feet with no issues and continues to be symptom-free when hitting from both sides of the plate.

"Bryan is making nice progress," Tomczyk said of Reynolds, who spent the first two weeks of the season at designated hitter due to his inability to throw. "We’ll continue to see how he responds to throwing, to hopefully be a full complementary player sooner than later.”

Right-handed starter Jared Jones was examined by Dr. Darren Frank after three weeks of being shut down with elbow soreness and was pain-free, which Tomczyk described as a "very important landmark for him and his rehab progression." Jones started his two-handed plyo ball program, and the plan for him is to get another CT scan in another three weeks. If all goes according to plan, Jones will begin a throwing program at that point as well.

Gold Glove utility infielder Jared Triolo is improving every day after landing on the 10-day IL with a lower back muscle strain, and the goal is for him to resume baseball activities by this weekend. According to Tomczyk, however, it is "unlikely" that Triolo will avoid a rehab assignment.

Second baseman Nick Gonzales took what Tomczyk called a "very important step" in his recovery from a non-displaced ankle fracture by graduating to partial weight bearing movement. He will undergo imaging again in 10 days.

Right-handed reliever Colin Holderman has resumed throwing and played catch out to 120 feet with zero to minimal symptoms after landing on the 15-day IL with a strained MCL in his right knee. He'll continue to ramp up his activity to hopefully throwing off a mound this weekend. 

Finally, right-handed starter Johan Oviedo (remember him?) is approaching the six-week mark in his recovery from a right lat strain. He is scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh and begin throwing this weekend, which Tomczyk said is "very encouraging news." Oviedo missed the entire 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and last pitched in a Major League game on September 27, 2023.

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