LAKELAND, Fla. — It's the subject of baseball's greatest comedy skit, as well as something that has framed a sizable portion of spring training for the Pirates thus far: Who's on first?

An entire team, evidently.

Through 16 Grapefruit League games (after Sunday), the Pirates have used nine players at first base while attempting to fill a temporary void due to Spencer Horwitz's sprained right wrist. That group has ranged in size from the 5-foot-8, 190-pound Enmanuel Valdez to massive Darick Hall (6-4, 250).

Total combined MLB games of experience among the group: 46. And half belongs to Hall, who had a brief flash of productivity with the Phillies in 2022.

It's been a challenge, manager Derek Shelton said prior to Sunday's game against the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. But the Pirates are also hopeful there's an option or two in there to keep the seat warm until Horwitz returns.

"We have an open competition," Shelton said. "We're trying to make sure everybody gets their reps. ... As we get further into camp, we'll narrow who we think's going to be over there more consistently. But it is a little bit of a challenge right now."

Is any of this ideal?

Of course not. I wish the Pirates would've signed Christian Walker or a bigger-name free agent. That's also not reality. We can get mad until the end of time, but they'll likely never pay for a player of that caliber to come to Pittsburgh.

I also didn't love the Horwitz trade. Not for the wrist issues, which I do believe are new, but more the mass of pitching the Pirates gave up to get someone who's still relatively unproven — and did have at least one previous wrist issue, although general manager Ben Cherington said Horwitz's 2024 season-ending MRI was clean.

The point here also isn't about Horwitz, who told me he's been hitting off a tee for about a week, will graduate to flips or some form of pitching soon and said he remains on his initial timeline of return of six to eight weeks.

"We're progressing," Horwitz told me. "They say it's gone well, so I'll take their word for it."

In the meantime, the Pirates have hilariously fielded an entire team of first basemen: Hall, Jared Triolo, DJ Stewart, Adam Frazier, Nick Yorke, Billy Cooke, Valdez, Matt Gorski and Malcom Nunez.

Shelton credited bench coach Don Kelly and infield coach Mendy Lopez for their handling of early work. The Pirates have tried to divvy up the game reps as fairly as possible.

Endy Rodriguez told me he has not played any first base despite Saturday's radio broadcast saying he and Jack Suwinski split reps during a recent intrasquad game. (More on Suwinski shortly.)

I'm also unsure how much staying power any of these options have considering Triolo and Frazier will be on the roster and probably make the most sense, the former more than the latter.

Horwitz has a career OPS of .852 against righties and .523 versus righties. It wouldn't shock me if the Pirates initially gave Triolo opportunities against right-handed pitching.

If the 2024 Gold Glove winner hits, it could form a platoon that would almost assuredly be better than what the Pirates got out of that position last year; only three clubs had a wRC+ worse than the club's collective wRC+ out of its first basemen (86).

But there's something else happening here that speaks to chemistry developing within the group. Nobody has been territorial. If anything, Horwitz has gone out of his way to help players who could theoretically turn him into Wally Pipp.

"I try to be a good person, first and foremost," Horwitz told me. "Last year, I learned a new position. I played second base [39] games in the big leagues. I had guys all around me helping me.

"These guys want to play just like I do, but I feel like that's part of the baseball community and how we were brought up in the game — help the guy next to you."

Now, the Pirates aren't going to win games or awards by having nice guys and players who are willing to talk about footwork, handling cutoffs or the read off a left-handed bat. They need someone who can hit.

Triolo intrigues me. There's more offense there from someone who had a .785 OPS in 2023, the result of a really good final month once he tweaked his setup. Triolo and I chatted about that on Sunday morning, about how he's been more upright in the past and how he's produced more power than the .611 OPS he had in 2024.

That's not enough for a corner spot, especially on a team in desperate need of offense. Triolo knows it, too.

"I've been working," Triolo told me. "It's really been piecing together some things I worked on this offseason with what has worked for me in the past. Going well so far."

Stewart has been the leader among the non-roster group with three doubles and a homer entering Sunday, but it's also tough to make the team when you're not on the roster. Especially for temporary work.

I also think there's more to come with the Pirates' own Abbott and Costello routine. While Rodriguez has not played first — he told me he'd be willing if the Pirates asked, but the focus has instead been catching — Suwinski has.

Suwinski played the position in high school and has been getting some experimental work there. Hard to say if that translates into Grapefruit League play, but I do know Suwinski playing first would give the Pirates additional roster flexibility. It also might keep his bat in the lineup while the Pirates use Tommy Pham some in left field.

It's also important to remember that the Pirates didn't give up one of their best starting pitchers last season (Luis Ortiz) and two top-20 lefty prospects (Josh Hartle and Michael Kennedy) to sit Horwitz. He's going to get opportunities.

Which, in some ways, might make this entire exercise feel like a waste. But taking away the negativity for a second, I don't think it's been that, at least not around the team.

The communication surrounding the first-base job has actually helped bring players closer together. They kind of can't help but share tips and tricks. Baseball code, right?

"Horwitz is out there every day helping guys," Triolo said. "Nobody is withholding any information."

Yorke has been one of the newcomers to the group. He's spent part of this spring still getting used to the bigger glove, let alone playing there.

At the same time, his mentality and willingness to learn says plenty about how he approaches the game, something that any team should want out of its clubhouse.

"I'm a ballplayer," Yorke said. "I don't care what position I play.

"We're all working together, talking through things to help each other out. At the end of the day, we just want to help the team win. We're working hard and trying to do it together."

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