Outfielder Tommy Pham was the best player on the Cardinals last season—and by a significant margin—but he still started the season in the minor leagues. It was the 12 season in the minors for the then 29-year-old, but he knew he deserved an opportunity in the big leagues.
As he told Sports Illustrated’s Jack Dickey in a new profile, he was fed up with the lack of opportunities afforded to him by the Cardinals, especially when St. Louis’s outfielders were struggling.
“We’re two weeks in, and I’m raking,” he says. “I’m hitting like .