In today’s 10 a.m. “Ten Hochman†sports video — brought to you by Siteman Cancer Center — Ben Hochman discusses Tommy Pham’s epic grand slam against the Rangers. Also, a happy birthday shoutout to Wesley Snipes! And as always, Hochman picks a random ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cards card!
When Oliver Marmol was drafted by the Cardinals in 2007, the first minor league teammate he met was ... Tommy Pham.
They were on the Batavia (New York) Muckdogs.
All these years later, Marmol is now Pham’s manager with the Cardinals.
On Wednesday, in a certain at-bat, Pham showed a particularly high level of toughness. Asked if Pham had that it in him even with Batavia, Marmol flashed a smile: “Yeah, he’s had it for a long time.â€
Tommy’s toughness. You see it in the way he hustles to a ball or to the bag. The way he won’t back down to an opponent. The way he yearns to win. But specifically as a batter, the way he battled in a Wednesday at-bat captured the essence of Pham.
Oh, and the pitcher was a right-hander. The ex-White Sox outfielder Pham, as we know well by now, was acquired at the trade deadline to primarily face left-handers.
“I mean, we can sit and talk about him (being good) against lefties,†Marmol said, “but he’s just going to take the most-gritty at-bat (regardless).â€
Pham has been the talk of the town this week. Rightfully so. On Tuesday, in his first at-bat back with the Cardinals (who traded Pham in 2018), he hit a pinch-hit grand slam.
“They said it’s hard not to be romantic about baseball — that was one of the cooler things that I’ve seen,†Cardinals teammate Brendan Donovan said. “... His presence is felt.â€
And really, that’s been the case since Pham walked through the doors here. No, this isn’t, say, 2017 Pham, who had a .931 on-base plus slugging percentage for ºüÀêÊÓƵ. But at 36, he’s still raking — and doing so with an edge.
After the trade deadline ended, Marmol said that “in the hitters meeting, you can feel — this is the group we’re going to roll with. And there’s a certain intensity to that. And the game looked different (Tuesday). We’ve been playing good baseball, but (Tuesday) had a certain energy to it. It had a little bit more ‘(&%$#) you’ to it. I enjoyed it. ... And (Wednesday), they were relentless.â€
No one more than Pham, who went 3 for 4 in the 10-1 home win Wednesday against Texas (after ºüÀêÊÓƵ beat the Rangers 8-1 the night before).
So there Pham stood in the fifth inning. He had a 1-2 count against Jose Leclerc (who, incidentally, dominated Pham’s Diamondbacks during the 2023 World Series, won by Texas). In the box, Pham was mad that he fouled off the four-seamer that was Leclerc’s second pitch: “That was the pitch that I had to do some damage,†Pham said. “But when you miss your pitch like that, you just have to be a tough out.â€
Pham took the fourth pitch for a ball — and fouled off the fifth.
Pham took the sixth pitch for a ball — and fouled off the seventh.
“He made some pitches on me, painting those fastballs at the bottom of the zone (that were fouled off),†Pham said. “But the key is trying not to expand, you know? If I expand that at-bat, I’m out.â€
Pham’s toughness is seen in his ability to avoid chasing pitches. He doesn’t let pitchers expand the strike zone. In fact, Pham’s chase rate of 19.7% is so low, it’s in the 94th percentile of hitters this year in that category.
After seven pitches, Pham had seen all four types of pitches Leclerc had to offer.
On the eighth, Leclerc threw a slider.
“I recognized it,†Pham said.
He thwacked it to left field, 103.6 mph off the bat.
A double.
Two runs scored.
And ºüÀêÊÓƵ, which entered the inning up 3-0, was up 7-0.
“He fouled off some tough pitches,†said Donovan, who watched from the on-deck circle. “And then he got a pitch he could handle and absolutely hammered it. He has hit some balls hard.â€
In fact, Pham hit three balls over 100 mph on the day.
For the season, his line-drive rate is 29.5%, the highest it’s been since 2016.
And for the season, his batting average is now .274.
The Cards said the plan was to have Pham start only against lefties. Pham, because he’s Pham, said he’s going to try to make it so he starts every day.
If anything, he’ll likely be in the lineup Thursday at the Cubs to face southpaw Shota Imanaga.
The Cardinals have now won three of their past four games. Everybody interviewed in the clubhouse has discussed the jolt of the trades (ºüÀêÊÓƵ also acquired starter Erick Fedde, who has a 3.11 ERA, and reliever Shawn Armstrong).
Pham was told about Marmol’s quote that Tuesday’s game “had a little bit more ‘(&%$#) you’ to it.â€
Marmol’s 2007 Muckdog teammate said: “That’s just the mentality I kind of have already. Just — nobody’s going to give it to me, I’ve got to go out there and take it.â€
In today’s 10 a.m. “Ten Hochman†sports video — brought to you by Siteman Cancer Center — Ben Hochman discusses Tommy Pham’s epic grand slam a…
The Cardinals hope to make a postseason push in the final two months of the regular season.Â
Cardinals right fielder Tommy Pham smacks a double during the fifth inning of a game against the Rangers on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at Busch Stadium.