Why The Mets Should Bring Tommy Pham Back
Editor's Note: I want to take a moment to introduce OC Baseball to the Skippers View team. I will be sharing his Twitter out soon so that everyone can go and follow some of the crazy work he has written about the Mets. We are excited to have him on the team!- Dean C.
This is essentially a summarized synopsis of my Tommy Pham section from my Mets Offseason Plan. The Mets have a need in left field. Tommy Pham played left field for the Mets in 2023. He was part of the fire sale at the deadline and proved to be an influential part of the Diamondbacks playoff run, as well as helping their young core develop. He praised that team multiple times for how much they wanted it and how hard they worked. Unfortunately, Pham could not say the same for the Mets.
So let's lay this out… the Mets position players had a reportedly unpreferable work ethic, and now they have a core of young position prospects playing together fully in 2024. In theory, the Mets should bring in a notoriously hard worker to provide a positive influence on the Baby Mets. Francisco Lindor praised Pham and was even quoted as saying to him, “Hey man, thank you for teaching me how to work hard again,” I bring up the point of the Baby Mets because Pham only played with Baty and Alvarez last year. Baty had a big issue of hitting tons of ground balls. If he could fix that issue, we would see what he could really look like. Vientos and Mauricio came up after Pham was traded.
Despite Pham’s comments, he still praised the team leaders’ (Lindor, Alonso, Nimmo) leadership and work ethic. However, that leadership and work ethic did not seem to stem all the way down the roster. If the Mets want to initiate a culture change, it is my opinion that they need to fill the roster with role players that also fall in line with the culture they want.
I have gone on about Pham's clubhouse presence without mentioning the on-the-field contributions. His season-long stats may not have lit up the stat-sheet, but he posted a 125 wRC+ and .351 wOBA with the Mets, along with ten home runs, over the whole season. He ran an xWOBA of .361, including his play with the Diamondbacks, which slowed down. He mashed with the Mets and can do so again. His baseball-savant page is full of red, and a lower launch angle is why the home run count is not as high, but the xwOBA supports that he continues to hit the ball hard regardless.
Overall, the Mets need a left fielder; Tommy Pham is a left fielder. The Mets need a player to hit the ball hard; Tommy Pham hits the ball really hard, and he is also great with runners in scoring position. The Mets need a hard worker, Tommy Pham is an extremely hard worker. The Mets need a positive influence after a down 2023 for their young core; Tommy Pham can be that for them. Tommy Pham is the best bat on the market that no one is talking about. Just because he is 36 next year and doesn’t launch home runs at 30+ degrees and round the bases 25 times a year doesn’t mean he can’t be the answer in 2024, just like he was in 2023. Did I mention he is most likely going to be cheaper than JD Martinez, Justin Turner, Jorge Soler, and cheaper than trading for players like Eloy or Lane Thomas etc.
Bring him back for another one or two-year deal around $9 million AAV, just because he is not a plus defender in left field is not a reason to deter away from him. The Mets can find plus defense in other ways. He will do a lot more good on the field and in the clubhouse than anyone outside the team will be able to see. This is one of my must-signs for the Mets.
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