Tommy Pham Finds A New Home For 2023 In NL East

 

The New York Mets have added their 4th outfielder. Signing one of the few remaining OF bats on the free agent market, the team has added 34-year-old Tommy Pham. 

The Mets will slap Tommy Pham into their 2023 lineup here and there pic.twitter.com/6gSVboRdz7

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) January 18, 2023

It's a $6M, one-year deal according to most reports.

The intense competitor Pham, who's more well-known recently for his infamous slap on Joc Pederson over a fantasy football quarrel, will back up the Mets' starting outfield trio of Starling Marte, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha. 

Yes, Tommy Pham slapped a man because of fantasy football, but the background work Mets did on him turned up intel that he's a very well-liked teammate and good clubhouse presence. The man he slapped was on a different ballclub, after all

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) January 18, 2023

Mets' intel found that he's a very well-liked teammate and a good clubhouse presence. 

Splitting his time last season between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox, Pham hit 17 home runs with 63 RBIs, but a below-average .686 OPS. 

Taking a look under the hood, however, the metrics show that Pham can still be a decent contributor on offense. 

Tommy Pham’s percentile rankings in ‘21 & ‘22:

- Hard Hit % - 84th/89th
- Avg. Exit Velo. - 77th/93rd
- Chase Rate - 98th/88th
- BB% - 95th/59th
- Sprint Speed - 69th/66th

Doesn’t chase, walks, makes hard contact, and is a good baserunner.

Would be a solid 4th OF.#Mets https://t.co/DHcN2Hv93W

— James Villani (@jvillani08) January 18, 2023

He takes a lot of walks, and makes hard contact—he was in the 93rd percentile in average exit velocity last season, and the 89th percentile in hard hit percentage. 

He also has some speed on the basepaths. His 20-SB days are likely gone, but he could still get to double-digits. 

A nice 4th-OF option for the Mets. 

 Photo: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports