Pirates Injury Update: Spencer Horwitz ‘ready to go’ vs live pitching, Enmanuel Valdez

As the Pittsburgh Pirates packed their bags to head west for their upcoming series against the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers, they'll be leaving one of their infielders behind – but for good reason.

First baseman Spencer Horwitz will not join the club on the trip to California because he will be in Florida, facing live pitching for the first time since he joined the Pirates. Arguably the Pirates' most notable offseason acquisition, the 27-year-old first baseman has yet to make his debut with the club after requiring surgery on his right wrist a week before the start of spring training.

The Pirates acquired Horwitz from the Toronto Blue Jays via the Cleveland Guardians in a Winter Meetings trade in December. Horwitz batted .265/.357/.433 with 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 97 games for the Blue Jays as a rookie last season.

Horwitz, who was sidelined for all of spring training and the early part of the regular season, has been ramping up to game form but has yet to take a live grounder in a game situation or hit against live pitching. He will attempt to simulate spring training at the Pirates' Florida complex before beginning a minor league rehab assignment. The timeline for his return to Major League action remains to be determined.

Pirates Injury Update: Pittsburgh gets encouraging news on Enmanuel Valdez

The Pirates also got an encouraging update this weekend on utility infielder Enmanuel Valdez, who suffered a shoulder injury while running the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday's game against the Cleveland Guardians.

Valdez hit a pitch from Guardians All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase deep to center field and was aiming to stretch a double into a triple when he slid head first into third base. He reached base safely, but he suffered a shoulder injury that caused him to take his hand off the bag and allowed José Ramírez to tag him.

The circumstances surrounding Valdez's injury were especially brutal, as he was called out at third while asking for time while injured. The third base umpire either didn't see Valdez call for time, or he chose to ignore it; either way, Ramírez was able to tag him for the out.

Fortunately, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on his weekly radio show Sunday on 93.7 The Fan that Valdez's injury was "relatively minor." He even appeared in Sunday's game as a pinch hitter, suggesting that he will be able to avoid a stint on the injured list, but it's still unknown whether he'll be back in the lineup Tuesday against the Angels.

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