Spencer Horwitz injury has left Pirates' first base situation completely in flux

The Spencer Horwitz injury was a huge blow to enter spring training with, and immediately forced the Pirates to look internally for options to sub in at first base. Finding players to fill the void has resulted in a scramble from all over the place, including middle infield transitions and even outfield shifts.

Deciding who will take the reps in the meantime this spring has been a complete whirlwind, with Pittsburgh trying out seven different players at the position. That is a lot of players, especially considering they have built-in theoretical backup options that make sense both defensively and offensively. Nonetheless, among this overloaded list, they apparently have not been considering a guy who was not bad at the position recently in Billy Cook.

Cook has been primarily used as an outfielder this spring, another role that needs reinforcing given the team's weak defense in the corner outfield. Still, with so much scrambling at first, it's odd that Cook hasn't been a part of the picture.

Now, Horwitz will likely be back in April, so the Pirates should not be panicking to find a long-term replacement, but here we are. Some of the options they have on board with a history of first base play are Darick Hall, Jared Triolo, Matt Gorski, and Malcom Nuñez. Triolo is the only one of the bunch that will assuredly make the Opening Day roster, and won the Gold Glove last year as a utility guy, so they should just be fine with him getting the bulk of reps, instead of a ton of extra guys moving out of position.

Pirates are doing too much by trying out excessive amount of players at first base during the absence of Spencer Horwitz.

Adding Adam Frazier, Nick Yorke, and Jack Suwinski into the mix also is a bit extra and unnecessary. Suwinski has 3 OAA in his career from center field, while Frazier and Yorke are career middle infielders. Having such shifts in the back pocket is not the worst idea, but trying seven bodies is a bit much. Getting Yorke in the lineup any way that they can also makes sense for the team, but constricting him with Frazier eliminates that thought.

The simple answer would be for Triolo to take all the reps, given his solid defensive background. The over complication of what the Pirates are doing now is taking reps away from more realistic options. Horwitz won't be out too long, but the Pirates are evidently lost with their plans in the meantime.