Much has been made of the Pirates’ new-look offense in 2026.

After posting one of the worst offensive seasons in franchise history last year, the Pirates have blossomed into one of the best lineups in the sport.

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Don’t believe it? It’s easy to think after the team finished in the bottom five of most offensive categories, but the numbers don’t lie.

The Pirates are tied for third in hits (8.6), tied for fourth in batting average (.249), fifth in on-base (.331), tied for fifth in runs per game (4.8),and 11th in OPS (.717).

Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, and Konnor Griffin debuting have been considerable reasons why, but the Pirates wouldn’t be where they are if it wasn’t for one of the most underrated players in the National League.

First baseman Spencer Horwitz is exactly what the Pirates need.

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A contact-first approach but capable of hitting the ball out of the park, Horwitz isn’t a prototypical first baseman. The Pirates don’t need him to be.

Horwitz is batting .282, third best on the team, and hit leadoff for the Pirates on Sunday and Monday. He’s hit as low as eighth in the lineup, including Tuesday.

Horwitz is tied sixth in the NL with a team-high .389 on-base percentage, trailing All-Stars Brice Trang (.410), James Wood (.405), Shohei Ohtani (.403), Corbin Carroll (.399), and young stars Xavier Edwards (.391) and Drake Baldwin (.389).

He swings a solid bat from the left side, owning a .832 OPS in 149 at-bats. Horwitz struggles against lefties (.190 average) and tends to sit against left-handed starters, but is batting close to .300 (.297) against righties in 128 at-bats.

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Horwitz is somewhat of a throwback player who can hit the ball the other way, make solid contact, and doesn’t strike out.

For a lineup that includes Cruz (on pace to record the most strikeouts in franchise history), Reynolds, Lowe, Marcell Ozuna, and Henry Davis, Horwitz’s approach is a necessity to balance the roster construction.

The 28-year-old former Blue Jay is the only Pirate regular to earn more walks (26) than strikeouts (24). Horwitz homered off Dylan Cease in Toronto in the Bucs’ 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon.

Good teams need players like Horwitz who won’t gain significant attention but find a way to come through. He’s hit five home runs and driven in 23.

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Baseball Savant adds an additional element to Horwitz’s success, ranking him in the 86th percentile in batting run value.

He doesn’t hit the ball all that hard (17th) or have a good barrel percentage (19th), but squares up the ball (87th) and doesn’t chase poor pitches (77th).

Horwitz ranks in the 94th percentile in whiff percentage and is zigging when the league zags to the three true outcomes. His strikeout (90th) and walk (89th) percentiles are some of the best in the sport.

He won’t hit the ball 440 feet, make flashy defensive plays, or easily score from first on a ball in the gap, but Spencer Horwitz is more valuable than many people think.

If the Pirates are going to climb the difficult NL Central stairway to a playoff bid, Horwitz is going to be a major reason why the Bucs have their most competitive and complete offense in a decade.