St. Louis Cardinals: Tommy Pham, the proposed 2018 NL MVP

The St. Louis Cardinals have solidified their outfield for 2018 via additions and subtractions and the world is taking notice. Of late, thanks to last year’s numbers, the 2018 center fielder is being touted as the 2018 NL MVP.

The St. Louis Cardinals have found a fit for center field in 2018 in the body of Tommy Pham. In 2017, Pham showed that he could compile highly-respectable numbers in center and all-but-essentially ousted Dexter Fowler from the defensive spot.

Pham’s performance has caught the eye of the Cardinals as well as the rest of the MLB community. So much so that his name is bubbling to the top of discussion boards, earning him an appearance in person on the MLB Network, and appearing as Alexa Datt’s prediction for the 2018 NL MVP.

Before diving into what he might do in 2018, let’s take a little stroll back through his numbers of 2017:

Every single number above is above his 162-game average. In other words, Pham out-performed what should have been his numbers on a natural bell curve. But what does this really mean?

It simply means that based on his previous year’s numbers, Pham should not have posted the performance that he did in 2017. Don’t tell that to Tommy as he would immediately shut you down telling you that he simply was never given the chance in the past.

Believe him? These were his previous years’ numbers:

Certainly, Pham failed to see the playing time in 2014, 2015, or 2016 that he saw in 2017, so maybe his playing time did play a factor. Nevertheless, I- for one- was thrilled with his performance in 2017.

What must also be noted about Tommy Pham prior to 2017 was the fact that he was riddled with injury. So much so that I (thanks to my cousin, Ben) started referring to him as, “made of glass.” I am proud to say that Mr. Pham proved me wrong in 2017 by staying relatively healthy.

So, to 2018… Baseball Reference provides the following predictions for Pham’s numbers:

Now look, these numbers are clearly a regression to the mean. Pham would say that he will present numbers more in line with his 2017 activity and I’m inclined to agree with him.

To this point, I’ll allow Doug E Fresh to point out Pham’s similarity to the great outfielder, Mike Trout:

And, yes, I know that Trout carries with him the strength of his powerful bat, but don’t you find these numbers compelling? Can you see now why and how Alexa Datt suggested Pham as her hot take for the NL MVP in 2018?

Missed that video? See the tweet here:

I’ll go out on the limb here and agree with Datt. The time has come for Pham to show the St. Louis Cardinals his makeup and to prove himself to the rest of MLB. We in Cardinals Nation should have a fun 2018 watching Pham to see if he can live up to these early predictions.

Next: 2018 Cardinals lineup

What do you think? Will Pham be a hot ticket for MVP? Will you grab his name in fantasy baseball? Let me know on Twitter and thanks for reading!