Tommy

Pham

Pham represents a temporary emergency stopgap solution for the Mets while Juan Soto is on the injured list for the next couple weeks. The 38-year-old signed a minor league contract earlier this month and went 2-for-12 across five games in five games at Low-A St. Lucie as his ramp-up. He hit .245/.330/.370 with 10 homers and five steals in 120 games for the Pirates last year. It’s a fascinating development for New York, but Pham can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats.

This is pretty aggressive. Pham, signed to a minor league deal on Opening Day, didn’t play this spring. His only minor league action consists of him going 2-for-12 in five games in A ball. And he was basically a zero WAR guy the last two years. No word yet on who is going down. Ronny Mauricio would seem to be logical choice, even if it leaves the Mets a little short-handed in the infield.

Perhaps this is connected to Mike Tauchman’s injury, but the Mets inked Tommy Pham to a minor league deal and will send him to Triple-A Syracuse. The 38-year-old hit .245/.330/.370 with 10 home runs and five steals in 449 plate appearances for the Pirates last season. He could be an option for the Mets against lefties at some point this season.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 37-year-old outfielder. Ji Hwan Bae will start in his place in left field and will bat eighth for the Pirates against Nationals’ right-hander Brad Lord.

The Pirates were outhit 12-8 and outhomered 1-0 tonight, but they took advantage of eight walks in scoring nine runs. Pham has now hit in six straight games. He’s batting .325 with two homers and 13 RBI in his last 11 games.

Pham ripped a 110-mph grounder down the third base line in the first to plate Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz. That gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead that held up for the rest of the game. Pham did add a single later in the contest. After a strong June and a terrific July, he’s hit .218/.308/.345 in 16 games so far this month.

Pham provided the only run of the game for the Pirates when he took Shota Imanaga deep for a solo home run in the fourth inning. The 37-year-old outfielder is hitting .264/.336/.375 with six homers, 34 RBI, and four steals across 327 plate appearances.

There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong physically with the 37-year-old outfielder, it’s just a regular day of maintenance. He has actually been swinging a hot bat since the All-Star break, though his overall .262/.332/.366 slash line with just five homers and 33 RBI is very underwhelming. Jack Suwinski will start in his place in left field and bat sixth for the Bucs on Tuesday evening against Freddy Peralta and the Brewers.

Coming into today, Pham was hitting .375/.422/.625 with four home runs, 11 runs scored, and 19 RBIs in 25 games after adjusting his contact lenses to support a rare eye condition that he has. Those numbers will play in any league type. The question is whether Pham remains in Pittsburgh after the trade deadline or if he lands with a starting job somewhere else.

Pham plated Bryan Reynolds with an RBI single in the fourth inning that extended the Pirates’ early lead to 5-0. He also tacked on a run-scoring double in the sixth inning that made it a 7-3 ballgame. While he has been hitting better over the past few weeks, the 37-year-old outfielder is slashing just .254/.320/.353 with four homers, 27 RBI and three stolen bases on the season.