Tipsheet: Former Cardinals outfielder Tommy Pham hasn't lost his edge (2024)

These days former Cardinals outfielder Tommy Pham is going full metal jacket for the otherwise f*ckless Chicago White Sox.

Pham, 36, has bounced all over the majors since leaving the STL. He played for Tampa Bay, San Diego, Cincinnati, Boston, the New York Mets, Arizona before signing on with the Pale Hose.

But he is still full go, all the time, and Tipsheet expects one of the postseason contenders to acquire him before the trade deadline.

He can still hit, as evidenced by his .280 batting average and .733 OPS. He still competes. He is far more rugged than most of the outfielders the Cardinals have run out to the pasture after he was traded away.

And he can certainly raise a team’s intensity level, as he demonstrated again Sunday.

Pham was thrown out trying to score from third on a shallow fly ball. Seeing that he had no chance to score –- even with a head-first slide through the back door –- he chose a direct feet-first route into Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras at the front door.

That path created a tougher throwing angle from left field, but the ball still got through. Contreras absorbed the collision without falling backward, then held his tag.

Contreras stood over Pham for a moment, made a remark, then headed back to the dugout.

Writing for The Defector, Chris Thompson described the scene:

Contreras was already back in the dugout; no one from the Brewers appeared to care very much or even to know at all that Pham was stomping around doing weird fighting poses and muttering "I will (mess) that guy up," presumably not about the coach who just sent him willy-nilly to his doom, nor about the agent who failed to talk him out of joining this abominable team for this entirely doomed campaign.

After the game, Pham was still salty.

“One-run ballgame, close play at the plate, and actually, it wasn't even (expletive) close," Pham said. "It was a shallow fly ball to left field, you would expect the left fielder to throw the baserunner out on that play, but the situation in the game, the third base coach sends you, you gotta go.

“I'm nailed out at home by a mile, I'm going to the dugout and I hear the tough guy with all the hoo-rah (expletive). I'll never start anything, but I'll be prepared to finish it. There's a reason why I do all kinds of fighting in the offseason, because I'm prepared to (expletive) somebody up. So you can take it as what it is.”

Pham has been in his share of scrapes, most notably the one outside the Pacers Showgirls Internationalin San Diego in 2020. During that fracas he suffered serious stabbing wounds in his back.

So, he’s probably not bluffing.

As for this incident at the plate, Contreras shrugged it off.

“I wasn't really paying attention to what he had to say," Contreras said. “That's the play of the game. That helped us stay positive and stay on attack.”

TALKIN’ BASEBALL

Here is what folks are writing about Our National Pastime:

Will Leitch, MLB.com: “As you might have heard -- particularly if you heard angry talk radio callers this offseason -- the last time the Yankees made the World Series was in 2009. More than half the teams in baseball have made the World Series since then, exactly the sort of factoid that will drive New York fans bonkers. But do you remember who the Yanks played in 2009? They played the defending World Series champion Phillies. The way these two teams are playing right now, it sure looks like they’d like to set up a 15-years-later rematch. The Phillies and the Yankees, Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in our Power Rankings this week, are starting to separate themselves from the pack. They’ve got the two bestrecords in baseball, the teams chasing them keep getting attacked by injuries and, frankly, the vibes areimmaculatewith both of these teams right now. That 2009 Series was so long ago that Pedro Martinez pitched in it -- he actually lost the decisive Game 6. Don’t be the least bit surprised if we see it again.”

Joel Sherman, New York Post: “The Mets’ hope is they are not this bad, but the National League is. In most seasons even having a pipe-dream playoff conversation about a team 11 games under .500 in June would be where folly merges with delusion. And the way these Mets are playing, that is likely true for them as well. But in an era in which six teams in each league reach the playoffs and in a 2024 season in which just five in the NL are currently over .500, then perhaps you can squint your eyes and see more than just a soulless countdown to the trade deadline for these Mets. The patron saints for such a belief system were in the Citi Field opposing dugout over the weekend. Because the Diamondbacks were still two games under .500 on Aug. 11 last year, eked in as the sixth seed with just 84 wins and yet won the pennant. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said he saw that club being “inspirational” to struggling teams to envision what is possible. That includes his own, which is in the swamp of NL sub-mediocrity that wants to believe its best baseball is still ahead. Even with a 5-4 victory Sunday, the Diamondbacks were just 27-32. But that was the same record as the Phillies had last season after 59 games — a point noted by Lovullo — and Philly finished as the top wild-card seed and went seven games against Arizona in the NLCS.”

Bob Nightengale, USA Today: “The New York Mets could be the epicenter of the trade deadline with a handful of their prized players expected to be dealt. They haven’t begun yet, but will soon shop first baseman Pete Alonso, DH J.D. Martinez, starters Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana, relievers Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman and Reed Garrett, infielder Jeff McNeil and outfielders Harrison Bader and Starling Marte. The Mets would be wise to trade Alonso, considering that if Alonso departs as a free agent, they would receive only a fourth-round draft pick as compensation since they're over the highest luxury tax threshold.”

Jim Bowden, The Athletic: “Just like in the offseason, theCardinalsare focused on trying to acquire another veteran starting pitcher. They consider themselves ‘buyers’ at this point,which I am not buying; in fact, I think they’ll be sellers at the trade deadline.”

R.J. Anderson, CBSSports.com: “For reasons largely beyond their control, the Braveshave become the most interesting buyer. It's not just because they find themselves trailing the Phillies in the National League East, and it's not just because they'll have to get by without aceSpencer Striderand reigning MVP Award winner Ronald Acuña Jr. for the rest of the season. It's the combination of those developments that puts Alex Anthopoulos in an interesting place. In theory, the Braves can justify taking either a hyper- or hypo-aggressive to the deadline -- the latter because their core is almost completely locked into place. "Almost completely" doesn't mean completely, however, and the Braves do have to weigh the possibility thatMax Fried(free agency) andCharlie Morton(who keeps talking about retirement) won't be on the team next season. If we had to guess, Anthopolous will likely err on the side of aggression, the way he always has -- he's usually the first mover each offseason for a reason, and it's hard to envision him standing pat when the Braves entered this season with serious World Series aspirations.”

Daniel R. Epstein, Baseball Prospectus: “The decision to reinforce the roster or tear it down isn’t made lightly, and the Blue Jays illustrate the reason why most teams wait until mid-to-late July to either bet or fold. On May 18, they were 19-25, but they’ve gone 9-5 since then. PECOTA now gives them a tricky 39.1% chanceof reaching the playoffs, and their 7-day delta of 7.8% through Sunday is a greater playoff odds improvement than any other AL team over the last week. At this point, they’reprobablynot a playoff team, but if you had a two-in-five chance of cashing in on postseason revenue, would you go for it? What if it cost an additional $10 million to boost those odds to, say, 48% by trading for a second baseman? Or would you cut your losses—and second-half payroll—while trying to recoup some prospects? Toronto has less than two months to answer those questions. The preseason PECOTA projection for Toronto was 88-74, and Craig Goldstein eyeballed them to finish 92-70. As of this moment, those projections have dropped to 84-78, which wouldn’t have been enough to reach the playoffs in the AL last year. In the NL, two teams reached the postseason with 84 wins, and one of them made it to the World Series.”

MEGAPHONE

“You know how it is, man. People love to doubt, man. But this team, we grew a brotherhood very quickly. It’s hard to beat the connection we all have. It’s very organic. It’s very authentic. You don’t feel pressure. You feel at home. The Yankees allow everyone to be the best version of themselves. The Yankees wanted me to be here and be me. It wasn’t like they acquired me to be a different version of myself. They did their research and homework. Everybody gets to be their authentic selves here. [Alex] Verdugo gets to be himself. [Juan] Soto gets to be himself. [Aaron] Judge gets to be himself ... And when everybody gets to be themselves, you get the best version out of everyone.”

Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman, to USA Today.