Veteran outfielder Tommy Pham will exercise an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Orioles tomorrow, reports Josh Tolentino of The Baltimore Sun. He’ll return to free agency if the Orioles don’t add him to the MLB roster.
Pham signed with the O’s midway through May. He took a few days to build up before reporting to Triple-A Norfolk. Pham struggled in 14 games for the Tides, batting .196/.281/.375 with 20 strikeouts in 64 plate appearances. He picked things up from a power perspective recently, connecting on three homers in his final eight games.
The 38-year-old Pham had a brief big league stint with the Mets earlier in the year. He went 0-13 with a walk and seven strikeouts while starting four of nine appearances. Pham spent the entire ’25 season in the Majors with the Pirates. He took 449 trips to the dish and had a slightly below-average .245/.330/.370 slash line. He connected on 10 homers, 17 doubles and one triple with a solid strikeout and walk profile.
Baltimore has a starting outfield of Taylor Ward, Colton Cowser and Leody Taveras. The latter was signed as a fourth or fifth outfielder but has put together a decent season, batting .258/.345/.365 in 209 plate appearances. He has handily outplayed Tyler O’Neill, who has hit .155 with one home run since returning from a concussion in mid-April. O’Neill has started to lose playing time as a result, dropping into a part-time corner outfield/designated hitter role.
The O’s have been without Dylan Beavers for the past month due to a low-grade right oblique strain. He’d likely push Taveras back into a fourth outfield role once he’s healthy. The O’s could make room on the bench for Pham by optioning Jeremiah Jackson, but they could see that as a redundant fit with O’Neill already on the roster. If they grant him his release, he’ll search for another team looking for right-handed outfield depth.
I watched Pham pick up 2 hits the other night in Norfolk.
Good luck, fam
I mean he was a depth signing just in case if we’re being honest. Not only has he struggled at the dish but you have a guy in O’Neill whose getting paid an exorbitant amount of money also struggling. No point having both guys (or even one of them) on the roster in my opinion.
Time to hang ’em up Tommy! *will forever be “The Slapper” in my book….. :-)
Who is more punk… The Clash or Tommy Pham?
Clayton Kershaw
We’ll accept both- points!
Phammy Ramone!
Sheena is a punk rocker b/w obscure b-side, Joc Pedersen is a little beeyatch
Should I stay (at Pacers) or should I go
He shoulda wore the red pants that night, just like Deadpool said
Stupid Orioles- bit slap em!
Good. Can’t stand that dork.
He’s terrible
Norfolk used to be the strip club capitol of Virginia. I wonder why he opted out.
Tommy Pham could have opted out of life after the 2023 season and no one would have noticed
You seem nice.
Oh, Lord, please, Phillies, say, “No!”