St. Louis Cardinals: Tommy Pham shows real work

The St. Louis Cardinals dropped their final game against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night after defeating them in the previous two. One Cardinal was adamant about his performance and his plans for improvement.

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the superb Corey Kluber on Tuesday night. Yes, you are reading that correctly. In fact, the Cardinals ran Kluber early in the game when he is usually light’s-out.

Carrying a winning streak, the St. Louis Cardinals entered Wednesday night’s game with an opportunity to show that the 2018 squad was legit. Instead, the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals showed that they are still the expected hot-and-cold team that existed in 2017 and before.

One of the most disappointing of the St. Louis Cardinals was Tommy Pham. Of late, Pham has suffered at the plate having gone “0-for… it doesn’t matter” going into Wednesday night’s game, left the game still without a hit. After Wednesday’s game, Pham is carrying an 0-for-24. That’s a slump all right…

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But here’s where things go from worst to best. Pham, unlike others on the St. Louis Cardinals, took complete ownership and blame for his performance. According to members of the media, Pham showed video on his phone illustrating the flaw in his swing that he intends to work on during the off day on Thursday.

While other St. Louis Cardinals players will be taking a rest day, Pham plans to spend time at Busch Stadium working through drills to address his misaligned bat barrel and too-long swing. Funny too that Pham did not once report that John Mabry had assisted him in solving his slump.

Oh, and no mention of Matheny at all either.

Thanks to Jeff Jones, we can know the details of what Pham shared after the St. Louis Cardinals loss:

In addition to his struggles at the plate, Pham had an outfield error on a routine catch when he failed to complete the catch and dropped the ball. Here’s what he had to say about that play:

It is very nice to hear a player take complete ownership for their performance. At the same time it is frustrating that the St. Louis Cardinals players must be the ones to step up, find video of their flaws, and then prescribe their own drill work. Shame that the coaching staff isn’t so involved.

And yes, players getting paid the amounts these guys bank should be responsible to this degree, but isn’t it shameful that it has to come to this? Isn’t it shameful that fans would be shocked to hear a player saying such things?

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I believe in Tommy Pham. I believe that his work tomorrow will pay dividends. And I hope that other players on the St. Louis Cardinals will follow suit.