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Buffa: Tommy Pham wants to repeat 'I told you so' season

He is 30 years old on March 8. Tommy Pham sounds like a guy who has known how good he is for his entire life. Everyone else is finally catching up.
Dan Buffa

ST. LOUIS — What happens after an "I told you so" season?

For a ballplayer like Tommy Pham, who has battled injuries for years, the goal in 2018 is simple: do it again, proving that hard work and skill defeat years of doubt and fluke status'.

Let me make this clear: No Cardinals player is more confident or carries more swagger than Pham, the starting center fielder.

Two years ago, he was telling the media about a veggie diet and new contacts while angling for a spot out of spring training. He would hurt himself on opening day that season.

Flash forward to Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where Pham held court with reporters asking him about everything from his baserunning speed, a grasp of the Fangraphs website, where he sees himself in the lineup, and helping Matt Carpenter.

Pham doesn't care where he hits, as long as no one in front of him clogs up the base-paths. A man with his sights set on 30/30 status (30 home runs, 30 stolen bases), Pham can get the job done hitting second, third, or even fourth in the lineup.

When asked about getting better pitches to hit in front of new Cardinal Marcell Ozuna, Pham preached about pitch selection and resisting the urge to "chase". Having better plate discipline led to a higher on base percentage for Pham in 2017, something that had eluded him before hand. So many hitters get themselves out at the plate, so Pham wants to decrease that, and in his mind, it isn't dependent on where he hits in the lineup or who protects him.

Calling Pham cocky is an understatement and a glancing insult at the term. He simply knows what he has to do in order to secure a long term contract with the Cards, and that's "go out there and ball". In other words, do what he did last year, or better yet, improve upon his breakout season. It's easy to look down on his confidence, but it's extremely hard not to admire it.

I asked Pham about having Ozuna flanking him in left field with a gold glove caliber defense, and Pham said he stopped worrying about what his fellow outfielders can get to. Back when Jason Heyward was a Cardinal, Pham said, the two players would get together on how to help Matt Holliday in left field. Now, Pham is simply going to chase down the ball and make plays.

Pham has worked his speed by doing a number of drills on a treadmill, a process that involves putting a harness on his chest and being positioned to run backwards. While it sounds dangerous and looks that way on his Instagram page, Pham thinks there are only three faster baseball players in the Majors, and neither of them are Cardinals. Pham sees Trea Turner, Billy Hamilton, and Byron Buxton. When Pham knows he can do something, a sly grin pops up on his face and doesn't leave easily.

Here's the meat and veggies of this story: Pham was remarkable in 2017, putting up a 6.0 WAR, blasting home runs, and taking a defensive position away from one of the highest paid outfielders in the National League in Dexter Fowler. Pham did all of this in less than a season, making you wonder what he can do with a whole year.

The vegetarian diet and troubled contacts narratives are buried. The question is simple for Pham and the Cardinals: can he do it again, and does he breach the conversation for NL MVP?

If the answer is yes, the entire Cardinals lineup changes, and their divisional hopes change.

Like it or not, Pham has extra muscle on this Cardinals team, emerging as a voice who could ring louder than even veterans Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina in 2018 and beyond.

He is 30 years old on March 8. Tommy Pham sounds like a guy who has known how good he is for his entire life. Everyone else is finally catching up.

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