Tommy Pham has a chance to do the funniest thing ever after Cardinals punt on season

The St. Louis Cardinals were buyers at this year’s trade deadline, and wound up making one major trade. Not only did they get Erick Fedde to add some much-needed depth to their rotation, but they landed Tommy Pham in the same deal to help give them a boost particularly against left-handed pitching.

At first, the Pham addition worked wonders for St. Louis. He looked so good to the point where Oli Marmol was playing him regularly for the first couple of weeks he was with the team. Unfortunately, Pham, along with the rest of the team, has cooled down significantly in August, and he has just three hits in his last 36 at-bats. The Cardinals have gone just 10-15 in August.

Their rough month has St. Louis sitting at 66-67 on the year entering Thursday’s series finale against the San Diego Padres, not where they want to be on August 29. They’re 10.5 games back of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and are 7.0 games back of the third Wild Card spot with 29 games to go. Again, not what they want.

Seeing where this is headed, the Cardinals made the decision to place Pham onto waivers. The Cardinals can keep him around if he goes unclaimed, but chances are, teams will show interest in the 36-year-old. The Atlanta Braves are a team that could make a lot of sense in that regard.

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Tommy Pham has a chance to join team that the Cardinals were chasing

With the Brewers holding such a massive lead in the NL Central, the easiest path for St. Louis probably would’ve been in the NL Wild Card. They’d need to jump some teams, but they’re 7.0 games back of the Braves for the third Wild Card spot instead of 10.5 in the division.

Pham can go from the hunter to the hunted by joining the team that holds sole possession of the third Wild Card spot. It’d be a cleaner fit if Pham was an infielder considering the injuries to both Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies, but Pham can help in the outfield as well.

The reason that the Cardinals acquired Pham to begin with was because of his prowess against left-handed pitching. Pham has a .762 OPS against southpaws this season and an .828 OPS against them in his career, making him a legitimate proven threat in a platoon role.

Ramon Laureano has excelled lately in a platoon role, but Adam Duvall has four hits in his last 33 at-bats (.121 BA) with three of those four coming in one game. He has struck out 17 times in those 33 at-bats.

Laureano platooning with Jarred Kelenic has worked well, but Michael Harris II is far from established against left-handed pitching. He has a .617 OPS against southpaws this season, and a .694 OPS against them in his career. Pham can play over Harris against lefties, and add more quality depth to their outfield situation in general over Duvall. Pham can play all three outfield positions, and probably adds more value on the bases too.

All the Braves would have to do to get Pham is cover the remainder of his $3 million salary, which is virtually nothing at this stage of the season.

The Cardinals placed him on waivers because they know there’s virtually no shot of them making the postseason and Pham is not part of their future. They get to save some money if a team like the Braves claim him. As a team squarely in the postseason race, the Braves can take advantage of the Cardinals cheapness and get a much-needed Duvall upgrade down the stretch who can help them in October as well. Considering he’d arrive basically for free, it’s a no-brainer for Atlanta, and would be fun for Pham.