Tommy Pham’s antics vs Blue Jays validate Royals decision not to re-sign him

It’s coming up to a year now that Kansas City Royals claimed Tommy Pham off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals amid a stretch run resulting in their first postseason appearance since 2015.

His time in Kansas City wasn’t the most memorable from a regular season perspective, as he slashed just .228/.250/.337 with two homers, eight RBI and a 60 wRC+ in 104 plate appearances across 23 games.

However, after a strong ALDS against the New York Yankees in a postseason where the Royals bats struggled overall – he hit .455 with an .871 OPS in 12 plate appearances – he ended 2024 on a positive note. So, given the Royals need to pursue outfield reinforcements last winter, bringing a veteran bat like Pham back into the fold, who’s had his fair share of solid seasons in his career, could’ve easily been deemed a solid idea.

However, what he’s also had throughout his career is his fair share of controversies, which has certainly served as a drawback. And on Monday night, Pham added to his list of antics, making headlines again for all the wrong reasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tommy Pham’s antics vs Blue Jays validate Royals decision not to re-sign him

On Monday night, in Pittsburgh in the series opener between the Pirates and the Blue Jays, Pham got the benches to clear after bat-flipping a walk and then getting into a heated argument with opposing catcher Tyler Heineman on his way to first base.

It was odd on-field decision by the 37-year-old outfielder followed by a bit of a twitter storm, where he went after Heineman for supposedly arguing balls and strikes and then in the process insinuated Jays youngster Addison Barger was a using steroids, after a fan with an image of Barger in his profile picture tried to chime in on Pham’s internet tirade.

Pham’s Twitter has since been scrubbed of Monday’s late night posts and he was left out of the lineup the next day in Pittsburgh’s second game versus Toronto. He did manage to tell MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson on Tuesday though to “let them know I speak facts”, as per a Sportsnet report.

As mentioned earlier, this isn’t the first time that Pham has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Better yet, it’s not even the first time his been in the news for his antics this season.

Back in May, Pham was suspended one game for making an obscene gesture towards a Los Angeles Angels’ fan.

Then back in 2022, as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, he slapped then San Francisco Giants outfielder and DH, Joc Pederson, over what turned out to be a fantasy football issue.

With his history of making questionable decisions and having a seemingly short-temper, he doesn’t exactly scream of being clubhouse member of the year, regardless of how good he can be on the field his best day.

This makes sense as to why the Royals didn’t opt to sign him back this past offseason, even though they had every opportunity to so, or acquire him ahead of the deadline – instead opting for his fellow veteran teammate in Adam Frazier who they reportedly love having in the clubhouse as veteran presence.

He’s simply not worth the headache at this point in his career, especially considering he’s been a below average hitter the past two seasons and in three of his past four.

While it may have taken awhile for the Royals to get the right outfield mix, their trio of trade deadline acquisitions in Frazier, Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk have provided that veteran spark to help propel this offense back into relevancy down the stretch.

It’s hard not to look back at how everything has shaken out for the Royals and not give J.J. Picollo his flowers for how he’s navigated this outfield this season, even if it did take until late July to figure it out. Because in Pittsburgh’s case, they seem to be paying the price for the antics that come alongside Pham.