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Through the first 33 games of the season, Tommy Pham slashed .208/.300/.364 for the New York Mets.
Those numbers jumped to .320/.364/.660 over the last 15 outings. What changed?
According to The Athletic’s Will Sammon, the switch happened around the time Mets manager Buck Showalter showed Pham an analytics printout that recommended the right-handed batter start only once, against a left-handed pitcher, in six upcoming games against the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies.
“From that day, it was always my point now to prove a good ‘eff you’ message to our analytics department to show them that I can hit righties,” Pham said. “You don’t get the career that I’ve had by only hitting lefties. So, now, I am trying to prove a f–king point.”
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.@TphamLV gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/1Dtz3hlsm4
Pham continues to hit favorably against left-handed pitchers, according to ESPN split stats. Still, Showalter has noticed the overall jump in Pham’s game since that moment, Sammon reported.
“He’s got a little edge to him, and he’s feeling it,” Showalter said. “He thinks that when he makes an out, it’s a fluke.”
That edge is visible both on the field, where Pham hit two two-out RBI singles in a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, and in the locker room, where after the victory Pham talked about his goal of proving those who doubted him wrong.
“That was just my mindset going into the season,” Pham said.
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Tommy Pham said his mindset during Spring Training was to not be the Mets’ fourth outfielder:
“That’s the nature of this game, you’re constantly trying to prove naysayers wrong” pic.twitter.com/70W3BGT08z
Pham’s recent play is a bright spot in what has been a disappointing season so far for New York. Despite doling out the largest payroll in the MLB, the 33-37 Mets, which lost 5-3 to the Cardinals Saturday, sit a daunting 11.5 games back of the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves.
