Mets playing it safe with Tommy Pham, a potential trade chip
The Mets' Tommy Pham is out at second base during the seventh inning of a game against the Giants on July 2 at Citi Field. Credit: AP/Bebeto Matthews
Tommy Pham’s absence from the Mets’ lineup on Saturday night had a simple explanation: The team wants to handle him carefully because of his recent right groin problem.
Sitting out the second game after the All-Star break was their plan for him all along, manager Buck Showalter said. They limited him to DH duty on Friday, sought to give him Saturday off and had him down as questionable for Sunday.
That way, after the team’s day off Monday, they hope he will be back to normal come Tuesday.
“With the off day looming Monday, I’d like to see if we can get him to be 100% by Tuesday. He’s close,” Showalter said. “There were a couple of ground balls [Friday] night where he was being protective of it. He’s not having any discomfort. It’s just about, ‘I want to be careful.’ ”
Pham, among the Mets’ better trade chips in the lead-up to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, injured his groin last Sunday against the Padres. An MRI revealed no damage, the team said, listing him as day-to-day. Entering Saturday, Pham led the team with an .821 OPS.
Just curious . . .
Last offseason, when the Mets seemed to need an additional hitter and faced significant uncertainty at DH, did they reach out to free agent J.D. Martinez?
They did not, Martinez said Saturday.
Martinez said he received minimal interest from teams generally before signing a one-year, $10 million deal with the Dodgers in mid-December.
That has turned into quite the bargain for Los Angeles, with Martinez posting a .255/.304/.576 slash line with 23 homers and 63 RBIs entering Saturday night’s game.
The Mets have struggled to get any production from the DH spot, especially Daniel Vogelbach, who entered Saturday with a .225/.335/.355 slash line, five homers and 26 RBIs.
“There’s always next year,” said Martinez, a free agent after the 2023 season.
Martinez likely will enjoy a stronger market and therefore be more expensive to sign.
“Yep, 100%,” he said.
What’s in a name?
Among the interestingly named Mets draft picks: eighth-rounder Boston Baro, a high school shortstop from, no, not New England, but Southern California.
Boston indeed is his legal name, not a nickname, Baro said Friday at Citi Field after signing his contract, skipping his commitment to UCLA. And the back story is rather simple: His family is from the Boston area.
“My dad wanted a kid named Boston,” Baro said, “so he named me Boston.”
Baro, naturally, grew up rooting for Boston sports teams.
“Not anymore,” said Baro, who was alive for four Red Sox championships by the time he was 14. “I’m a Mets fan.”
Extra bases
The Mets scratched Starling Marte from the lineup because he was ill, perhaps with a migraine, Showalter said . . . Reliever Sam Coonrod (torn right lat) has been facing hitters in a live batting-practice setting and is nearing a minor-league rehab assignment.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
