Spencer Horwitz says Pirates stars were derailed by coaching changes

The numbers tell an uncomfortable truth the Pittsburgh Pirates can’t afford to ignore.

Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz — the two hitters meant to anchor this lineup for the better part of a decade — didn’t just have “down years” in 2025. They had seasons that fundamentally altered how opposing pitchers attacked them and how fans perceived the Pirates’ ceiling.

Reynolds slashed .245/.318/.402 with a .720 OPS, hit just 16 home runs and struck out a career-high 173 times. Cruz went even further off-script, posting a .200/.298/.378 line with a 32% strikeout rate. These weren’t blips. They were red flags.

And yet, inside the clubhouse, there’s a belief that context matters.

“I think everyone around the Pirates, we believe that Oneil and Bryan are going to get back to the form that we're used to seeing and that last year was a bit of an anomaly for both of them,” first Spencer Horwitz said last week on Sportsnet Pittsburgh’s Unobstructed Views (via DK Pittsburgh Sports). “It's hard going through a new manager and getting a new hitting coach. They went through a lot, too. A lot of new firsts, a change, and I think there's going to be a comfortability there now.”

That’s not coach-speak. That’s a teammate acknowledging what fans often underestimate: how destabilizing systemic change can be for hitters whose success depends on rhythm, routine and trust.

Pirates counting on Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz to return to form in 2026

Reynolds and Cruz didn’t just try to hit through slumps in 2025. They did it while learning new voices, new cues, new philosophies — all in the middle of a season where the margin for error was already razor thin. Every at-bat became a referendum on whether to trust instinct or instruction. Every failure compounded uncertainty.

For Reynolds, that showed up in strikeouts he rarely chased before. For Cruz, it showed up in mechanical drift and timing that never quite synced. These weren’t players forgetting how to hit. They were elite talents trying to recalibrate on moving ground.

The Pirates spent this offseason adding protection — namely, Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn — to stabilize the middle of the order. That helps. But the truth is, this lineup still goes as Reynolds and Cruz go. No amount of complementary pieces can replace two stars operating at half capacity.

Horwitz’s comment matters because it reframes 2025 not as a collapse, but as a disruption. And if that’s true, then 2026 becomes less about hoping for miracles and more about restoring normalcy. Continuity is a competitive advantage. Comfort breeds confidence. Confidence unlocks production.

Reynolds has been a .280 hitter with power and plate discipline before. Cruz has been a game-breaking force capable of changing a series with one swing. That ceiling didn’t vanish. It was obscured by chaos.

The Pirates don’t just need these two to “bounce back.” They need them to reclaim who they already are. And for the first time in a year, the environment might finally let them.