Tommy

Pham

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.

Armed with his new contact prescription, Pham is one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Three more hits here gives him a .337/.394/.478 over his last 30 games and there are no signs of him slowing down. The Pirates have bumped him up to the lead-off spot during this hot streak and he should be productive there until he’s (likely) traded to a contender later this month.

As a team, the Pirates tallied five hits on the afternoon — all of them singles — with Pham the only player to collect more than one. The 37-year-old outfielder has had an extremely disappointing season at the dish, slashing a meager .237/.308/.300 with just two homers, 22 RBI and three stolen bases.

Pham got the Pirates on the board with an RBI single in the second inning and then added an insurance run with another RBI single in the seventh. The veteran hit .302/.373/.488 in 43 at-bats in June with two home runs and 12 RBI. He could potentially be a trade deadline target for contending teams needing a bench bat, and that would open up playing time for Nick Yorke in the outfield for Pittsburgh.