West Newsmagazine 3-21-18

WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
By WARREN MAYES
If you liked what Tommy Pham did in
2017, get ready. With 23 homers and 25
stolen bases in 128 games last year, Pham
has distinguished himself as one of six
players in franchise history to reach the
20-20 benchmark. But he’s not satisfied.
“I’m very excited ... to continue to
develop as a player,” said Pham, who will
play in center field this year as Dexter
Fowler moves to right.
He wants to play 150 games and elevate
his game defensively by improving his
speed. He also sees a 30-30 season in his
future – something never before accomplished
by a Cardinal in home runs and
stolen bases in the same season.
“I want to contribute in all aspects of the
game,” Pham said. “People only look at
hitting, [but] you still have to play defense
and you have to run the bases. … I believe
that I could be a really special player ... I
just need time to show it.”
In 2017, Pham became the Cardinals best
offensive player, hitting .306/.411/.520
with 23 home runs and 25 steals in his first
full big league season.
“You can say what you want about me,
but this is ... an industry based off production.
My production always said I
belonged in the big leagues. I don’t care
what anyone said, the numbers backed it
up. I was one of three players that had that
season,” Pham said.
By “that season,” Pham means a year
in which he was one of three players in
the majors to post a slash line of at least
.300/.400/.500 with at least 20 home runs and
20 stolen bases. Joining him were American
League MVP Award winner José Altuve
and two-time AL MVP Award winner Mike
Trout. That’s impressive company.
The icing on the cake is that Pham is the
only player in Cardinals history to reach all
of those plateaus in a single season.
CARDINALS SALUTE 2018 33
Pham: ‘driven, determined, hungry’
[Lou Countryman photo]
“Personally, I think I’m a 30-30 player,”
Pham said about hitting home runs and
stealing bases in one season. “I probably
would have gotten it [in 2017] if I was up
all year. I had more than 30 bases if you
count Triple A and the big leagues. I fell
maybe a couple home runs shy of it.
No player in the Cardinals 126-year history
with the National League has had 30
homers and 30 stolen bases in the same
season. In 1998, Ray Lankford had 31
homers but came four steals shy of 30-30.
Pham is working to make it happen.
“I’m focusing on my speed to really elevate
my game defensively,” Pham said. “If
I’m faster, I’ll catch more balls. If I catch
more balls, I’ll save more runs for the team.
That’s the name of the game – preventing
runs and scoring runs.”
Pham is not afraid of letting the world
know what he wants to accomplish.
“I feel like a lot of people don’t believe
anything I say,” Pham said. “After I do it,
it’s easier for me to be like ‘I told you so.’ I
told [Pro/Spur owner] John Hartwig I was
a 20-20 player in 2012 when I was hurt
after my right labrum surgery. I said I could
have an over 900 OPS in the big leagues. I
did that. He wrote it down. I wrote it down.
No one else would have believed it but he
did and Vuch [John Vuch, Cardinals director
of operations] did.”
Setting goals is important, Pham said.
He said Hartwig and some of his teammates
told him “if you write something
down, you’re 30 percent more likely to
achieve it.”
“I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but
my mindset is always the same. I’m very
driven, determined and hungry,” Pham
said. “We missed the playoffs the last two
seasons and it’s something we’re all trying
to get back to. We love to play baseball in
October. It doesn’t feel the same without
us in it.”
Although he was a relative newcomer
last season, Pham became a clubhouse
leader – a vocal one according to pitcher
Adam Wainwright.
“Tommy stood up in the middle of the
clubhouse and started yelling at folks,”
Wainwright said. “Guys were looking at
me like, ‘Are you going to do something
to stop him?’ I was like, ‘Man, absolutely
not.’ I love that about this guy. He brings
an attitude to our team that we need.”
Luke Weaver says Pham “means business.”
“The way he dresses. The way he talks.
The way he walks. That’s Tommy Pham,”
Weaver said. “Yadier [Molina] is the godfather
but Pham is following closely down
that road. He’s just a great guy to have
around. There’s always something to take
away from what he’s doing.”
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