The Pirates are among the teams that have shown some recent interest in free agent outfielder Tommy Pham, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He again lists the Padres as a potential fit for Pham as well. San Diego has been connected to Pham at multiple points over the past few weeks.
Pittsburgh has Bryan Reynolds locked into left field and Jack Suwinski in center, but right field is more open at the moment. Connor Joe, Edward Olivares and Joshua Palacios could all see some time at the position. Each is on the 40-man roster and remains in camp. Pham has played far more left field than right field in his big league career, but he did log 78 innings in right with the D-backs just this past season. His arm strength clocked into the 69th percentile of MLB outfielders, per Statcast — well ahead of Reynolds (and thus making a shift of Reynolds to right field seem unlikely).
The 36-year-old Pham had a solid year at the plate in 2023, hitting .265/.328/.446 with 16 home runs, 27 doubles and three triples in 481 trips to the plate. He walked at a strong 9.8% clip and struck out at a 22% clip that was a bit lower than the MLB average. Despite being in his mid-30s, Pham also swiped 22 bases in in 25 tries (88% success rate) and landed in the 61st percentile of MLB players for his sprint speed, per Statcast.
The Pirates were one of MLB’s least-productive teams against left-handed pitching in 2023, hitting .246/.318/.383. That .383 slugging percentage was the fourth-lowest among all MLB clubs, and the 89 wRC+ resulting from that line ranked 25th among the league’s 30 teams. Pham’s career .271/.381/.453 batting lien against lefties (.245/.322/.465 in 2023) would help to address that deficiency.
Pham has been linked to several teams beyond the Padres and Pirates over the winter, though several of those clubs have since made other moves. The Twins acquired Manuel Margot from the Dodgers, adding the righty outfield bat they’d been seeking. Arizona paid Randal Grichuk a $2MM salary to fill their own need for a right-handed bat. The Braves signed Adam Duvall to a $3MM deal just yesterday. The Red Sox have been linked to a possible Pham reunion and haven’t added a right-handed outfield bat since that time — though they did bring righty slugger C.J. Cron aboard on a minor league deal. Boston also announced yesterday that fellow righty outfielder Rob Refsnyder would miss time with a fractured toe.
