Future Redbirds

One of the players I am hoping to see this summer is Tommy Pham. Viewed by many as the best high school player out of the state of Nevada, Pham had previously committed to collegiate powerhouse Cal State Fullerton before the draft. Had he not had questions surrounding his sign-ability, he would’ve been drafted in the first three rounds but fell to the Cardinals in the 16th. He still cost the team 3rd round money, they shelled out $325K to get him in the fold. The early returns were positive, he went 10-for-29 in the month of June but was sidelined for half of July due to a groin injury. He came back and couldn’t buy a hit, hitting .203 the rest of the season and finished with a paltry .664 OPS. Pham was horrid on D, committing 18 errors in 54 games and a whopping -31 runs below average in 300 innings at shortstop position according to Sackmann’s calculations.

While his debut was less then stellar, Pham remains one of the best athletes in the system and lots o’ that upside stuff. It’s also worth that Pham was not only hurt by a pulled groin, he also suffered from finger sprains on his right hand which had to be a factor on his hitting. Besides, at 18 years young we should probably be looking at tools more then just numbers. Here are some of those tools, in bullet pointy goodness-

• In high school Pham impressed scouts with his arm strength, hitting 91 throwing off the mound causing some to think his future should be in pitching. Despite a powerful arm, he needs to work on his throwing mechanics to prevent those costly errors or a change in position will have to happen.
• Pham can fly, he can run the 60 in 6.85 seconds and he translated that speed into success on the base paths by stealing 12 bases in 15 attempts. He also hit 3 triples.
• While his .227/.336/.320 line may be less then inspiring, Pham did walk 26 times and had a solid .62 BB/K ratio. He had an odd reverse-split for a right handed hitter, he hit .282 against righties while only .125 against southpaws. Scouts report that Pham has a level stroke with great extension and bat speed. At 6′1″, 180 he has time to fill out, but some see him more as a line-drive hitter then a power guy.

With all sorts of tools coming from an infielder, Jeff Luhnow has evoked the Derek Jeter comparison, but as the VP of the scouting department I’ll trust he’s not just being a cock-eyed optimist. Other scouts are not quite as generous, calling him a young Scott Hairston, the under appreciated power-hitting AAAAer for Arizona. His performance will have to catch up with his tools and him being fully healthy I’m optimistic they will. He has to vastly improve his defense and cut down on those K’s some. Here’s hoping he makes the low A squad so I can get a good look at him in the flesh.