Fredo, you’re my older brother and I love you, but don’t ever pick up Cameron Maybin again over Tommy Pham. If you do, Maybin will find himself on the disabled list and you’ll take a one way row boat ride out on the lake. If you think I’m kidding watch the movie. Tommy is the future of this phamily. In the past thirty days he has been a top ten batter in points leagues, scoring 96 points. Here are the seven hitters that are ahead of him. Jose Ramirez (98), Carlos Correa (98), Mookie Betts (102), Jose Altuve (102), Anthony Rendon (102), Bryce Harper (105) and George Springer (113). That’s quite the company he’s keeping. Looks like the heads of the five families and two of their captains if you ask me. Pham has score more points than every other hitter not mentioned in that sentence. That includes Joey Votto (93).
Tommy Pham is averaging 2.96 points per game. While this is not a stat I have highlighted much during my writings, it has been growing on me. Provided the player is not a player that frequently pinch hits, this stat is generally rather accurate. Here are some other players boasting a similar points per game average. Andrew McCutchen (3.00), Nelson Cruz (2.93), Marcell Ozuna (2.91), Jose Abreu (2.89), Buster Posey (2.87) and Corey Seager (2.86). Once again, that’s some respectable company.
How about points per plate appearance. My “holy grail”. Well, Pham is averaging 0.73 points per plate appearance. Despite injuries, Ryan Braun continues to be a productive points league player. His PPPA is 0.71, scoring 130 points over 183 plate appearances. Michael Conforto also has a 0.71 PPPA. Even Giancarlo Stanton and his 30 home runs has a PPPA of 0.73. Can you see what I’m doing here?
If Pham is on your waiver wire and you haven’t picked him up yet, then you are just being stubborn. He is absolutely a player that should be in your starting lineup. Even though he spent the first month of this year in the AAA, Pham is on pace for a 20-20 season. And I’m not talking about his vision. Pick him up and thank me later. In the words of Big Magoo, “Wham! Bam! Thank you Pham!”
