Tommy Pham

Tommy Pham
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 28
Outfielder
Born: (1988-03-08) March 8, 1988
Las Vegas, Nevada
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 2014, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Batting average .245
Home runs 14
Runs batted in 35
Teams

Thomas "Tommy" James Pham (born March 8, 1988) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on September 9, 2014.

Amateur career

Pham attended Durango High School in Spring Valley, Nevada where he was a pitcher and infielder. As a senior, Pham was named the Class 4A All-State Player of the Year by the Reno Gazette-Journal and a second team All-American after finishing with a .633 batting average.[1][2] As a pitcher, Pham's fastball touched 93 miles per hour but, despite drawing more interest as a pitching prospect, Pham wanted to play the field. He originally committed to play college baseball at Arizona before switching his choice to Cal State Fullerton.[3] Pham was ultimately selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 16th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. He received a $325,000 signing bonus, higher than most players drafted as late as the 16th round.[3]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Pham playing for the Memphis Redbirds.

The start to Tommy Pham's professional baseball career has taken a number of detours due to injury. He suffered a broken wrist in 2010. In a 2011 game while attempting to deny a home run ball, he tore a ligament. He played 40 games and batted .294. In early 2012, while diving for a baseball, Pham noticed a pop in his shoulder. The opinion of team doctors was that it not serious. He continued play but it worsened, and later examination showed a torn labrum, costing him nearly all of the season. After promotion to AAA Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in 2013, he tore his other labrum. He returned to Springfield after rehabilitation and batted .301 in 45 games.[4] Pham played most of the 2014 season for Memphis, appearing in 104 games, and he batted .324 with a .395 on-base percentage (OBP), .491 slugging percentage (SLG), 63 runs scored, 16 doubles, six triples, 10 home runs (HR) and 44 runs batted in (RBI).[5]

St. Louis Cardinals

He was called up to the major leagues with the Cardinals for the first time on September 7, 2014.[6]

He opened the next season with Memphis but missed the first two months with a quadriceps injury.[7] On June 9, Pham hit two home runs and a career-high five RBI against the Iowa Cubs.[8] In his first 24 games after returning from the disabled list, he batted .338 with a .402 OBP, .625 SLG, five home runs and 21 RBI. The Cardinals recalled him to the major league club on July 3, 2015,[7] and he was influential in a 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres the next day. He doubled for his first major league hit, then, later in the game, pilfered his first stolen base and scored the winning run, his first major league run.[9] On July 5, Pham hit his first major league home run the day after collecting his first major league hit. He hit another double that game, and drove in all three of the Cardinals' runs – also his first three major league RBI – as the Cardinals again defeated the Padres, 3–1.[10]

On September 16, Pham tripled and had his first multi-home run game against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 5–4 victory. He had actually homered in three consecutive plate appearances spanning his last at bat previous to the game, September 13 against the Cincinnati Reds.[11][12] In the next game against the Brewers, Pham's line drive ricocheted off the head of starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson. Although Nelson had to leave the game, he was able to walk off the field in his own ability, and a magnetic resonance image (MRI) revealed a contusion. Pham doubled and tripled in this game, giving him six hits and eight RBI in consecutive games against Milwaukee.[13] He homered in a 4–3 win over the Chicago Cubs on September 20,[14] and drove in two of the runs in a 3–1 win over the Reds on September 22. The Cardinals won 100 games and the National League Central division. Pham made his major league postseason debut as a pinch hitter during the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 2015 National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Cubs, and hit his first career home run against Jon Lester.[15]

The Cardinals selected Pham for the Opening Day roster in 2016; however, he was the first player in the major leagues after the start of the season to be placed on the DL, tearing his left oblique against Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning of the first game.[16] The club reactivated him from the DL on May 17 and optioned him back to Memphis.[17] His home run on August 2 against the Cincinnati Reds was the Cardinals' 11th pinch hit home run of the season, establishing a new club record.[18]

Awards

Personal life

Pham is both of African-American and Vietnamese-American heritage. He is the first person of Vietnamese descent to play in Major League Baseball since pitcher Danny Graves.[20][21] He and his sister were raised by their working mother, Tawana, in Spring Valley, Nevada.[20]

Pham suffers from keratoconus, a rare eye disorder which causes degenerative vision problems. It was not until Pham began wearing contact lenses in 2009 that he became able to track pitches to the best of his ability.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Class 4A All-State baseball team". Reno Gazette Journal. June 11, 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Smith, Hubble (June 27, 2014). "Tommy Phan". Vegas Voice. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Down on the Farm: Tommy Pham". Whiteyball. January 30, 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Bailey, Mike (July 3, 2015). "Stalled but never stopped: The journey of Tommy Pham (part 2)". KMOV.com. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Tommy Pham minor league statistics & history". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  6. ↑ Goold, Derrick (September 7, 2014). "Motte, Masterson seeking roles in Cards bullpen". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Langosch, Jenifer (July 3, 2015). "Cards call up Pham, boost outfield depth". MLB.com (stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com). Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ Memphis Redbirds (June 9, 2015). "Career day for Pham leads Memphis to 11–3 win". MiLB.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  9. ↑ Modelski, Kevin (July 4, 2015). "Game blog: Cards snap losing streak, beat Padres 2–1". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ Brock, Corey; Langosch, Jenifer (July 5, 2015). "Lynn and Pham lead Cardinals over Padres". MLB.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Rookie Pham belts Cards past Brewers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Pham homers twice in Cardinals' 5-4 victory over Brew Crew". Fox Sports Midwest. Associated Press. September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  13. ↑ Goold, Derrick (September 17, 2015). "Offense backs Lackey as Cards sweep". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ Goold, Derrick (September 20, 2015). "Cards' win over Cubs could be costly". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  15. ↑ Sheldon, Mark (October 9, 2015). "Pham, Piscotty join Cardinals' rookie lore: Pinch-hitter homers in first postseason at-bat; first baseman/outfielder goes deep in first playoff game". m.cardinals.mlb.com. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  16. ↑ Langosch, Jenifer (April 4, 2016). "Cards put Pham on DL, will call up Diaz". MLB.com.
  17. ↑ FOX Sports Midwest (May 17, 2016). "Cardinals reinstate Pham from DL, send him to Memphis". FOX Sports. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  18. ↑ Langosch, Jenifer (August 3, 2016). "Cardinals reach new heights in pinch power: Club sets franchise record with 11 home runs off bench with Pham's Tuesday blast". m.cardinals.mlb.com. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  19. ↑ Goold, Derrick (August 12, 2015). "Cards prospect Reyes sweeps 'Tools Triple Crown'". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  20. 1 2 Hummel, Rick (July 6, 2015). "Pham making the most of his chance". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Cardinals Promote Tommy Pham to AAA Team". Nguoi Viet. July 10, 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  22. ↑ Bailey, Mike. "Stalled but never stopped: The journey of Tommy Pham (part 1)". KMOV. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
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