When the July 31 trading deadline without waivers approached, Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham had assumed, if he was dealt, that he would be going to one of two American League contenders _ Houston or Cleveland _ both of which had been reported to be seeking outfield help.
"When they told me Tampa Bay, I said, 'What?' " recalled Pham.
But then Pham said Rays general manager Erik Neander told him, "We've been trying to get you for a couple of years."
"That made me kind of mad," Pham said. "I'd been stuck in the minors (until last season) BS-ing around when there was a team that wanted me in the big leagues two years ago?"
As nearly everyone is aware of by now, Pham plays better mad. But now he is playing better happy. By his age (30) and his relative experience (nearly three years), he has become one of the leaders of a young Rays squad that has virtually the same record as Pham's previous employers. The difference is that Tampa Bay plays in the cut-throat American League East, which has certain playoff qualifier Boston and 99.4 percent qualifier New York.
"I was very surprised coming over here," Pham said. "Joey Wendle, who I played against in the minors, I've always thought was a great player. I liked the way he played the game hard. As far as anyone else on the team, I didn't know anybody. But when I came here, I got a text from my general manager in winter ball (in the Dominican Republic) and he said, 'That team is going to be good really quick.'
"I thought, 'I don't know what he's smoking.' But once I started playing with these guys, I can see why.
"From a position player standpoint, this is the hardest-playing team in the big leagues. And I heard (umpire) Joe West said something like, 'You could count on one hand the number of teams that have played like this in my career.'
"When I got here, I was amazed. On ground balls, everybody runs full speed down the line. On base hits, everybody runs full speed so in case the defense bobbles the ball, we're at second base. There's players on every team that do that. But you don't see a whole team do it.
"This may be the fastest team in the big leagues."
He equally is impressed by the Rays' young pitching, including, of course, 19-game winner Blake Snell, who has become the unchallenged ace after the trades of Chris Archer and Nathan Eovaldi.
"The pitching is tremendous here," Pham said. "A lot of guys throw hard and have good stuff. I don't even know if they're going to sign anybody (outside of the organization) because they're really high on their prospects.
"(Brett) Honeywell is at very worst, a No. 2 starter, they said. And (left-hander Colin) Poche has been putting up video-game numbers." The reliever fanned 110 in 66 innings at Class AA and AAA this year.
Pham ticked off the names of a couple more young pitchers and said, "They're a lot like the Cardinals. They're good at developing arms. And they value guys who can kind of play that Billy Beane 'Money Ball' aspect."
As for himself, Pham, who had a 17-game hitting streak end Saturday, said he still hadn't been able to find the swing path that had eluded him much of the season.
"I'm still trying to figure that out," said Pham. "But when I figure out how to quiet my set-up and add what I'm doing now with that set-up, I'm going to be a better hitter all the way around."
Much like the Cardinals did with Matt Carpenter, who was hitting .140 on May 15, Pham said Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola and Neander showed him "a piece of paper" on which the Tampa Bay analytics department had broken down Pham's at-bats and determined that he was hitting the ball as well as last year, when he batted .306 with 23 homers and a .931 OBP.
"The underlying stats _ swing percentage, hard-hit percentage, all that fancy stuff," Pham said. "They said this year my numbers should look like last year with how I'm hitting the ball.
"I thought it was crazy. I didn't personally feel I was hitting like last year. I felt I wasn't using the whole field as well.
"But they said, based on my hard-hit percentages and line-drive percentages, my numbers should be 'this and this.' I thought it was pretty interesting. They think my slugging is way down this year ... just because I've been very unlucky. They said, 'Keep doing what you're doing and it's going to even out.'
"I said, 'OK.'
"Since then, I'm in the }/5 slash line (.300 average, 400 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage) I had put up last year. They think they've found gold with me. They told me, 'We got you for cheap (three minor league prospects). We always believed you would be the player you were last year. We still think you are.'
"And then their analytics department backed it up with numbers."
Pham suffered a broken bone in his foot in his second game and lately has been playing with a dislocated finger on his right hand � which has affected his grip strength _ and a groin injury, which has sapped his speed.
But Pham batted .391 (27 for 692) during his hitting streak. Coincidentally, when the Oakland Athletics showed up in St. Petersburg, Fla., this weekend, Cardinals ex-pat outfielder Stephen Piscotty carried a hitting streak of 14 games, in which he had hit .373.
Pham has been in the American League for just more than a month. But that has been enough time for him to watch the Red Sox, Indians and New York Yankees and say, "In the AL, there's no breather. There's a big gap between the NL's best teams and the AL's best teams. A huge gap.
"The difference is that in the AL, the offenses are more dynamic. They can hit for power and can run and they all play the game hard. In the NL, there are not too many guys who are dual threats. In the AL, there are more guys who are dual threats _ who can steal a base besides hit for power."
Pham hasn't been doing much of either lately, owing to his injuries. He has three homers and two steals ("I've been running like crap," he said) with Tampa Bay and plans to have surgery on his groin and his finger after the season is over.
"I know Yadi (Molina) always plays with stuff like this," Pham said. "I'm starting to see how Yadier feels."
Pham keeps tabs on the Cardinals and said it was hard to leave teammates after being in the organization for a dozen years.
"It's tough," he said, "because I was so close with a lot of guys. But it's a business, which everyone has said."
He notably has watched his replacement, Harrison Bader, come of age as a defender in center field. Pham, who lines up in left field in Tampa Bay next to two-time Gold Glover Kevin Kiermaier, said, "Bader can play. He can run and he throws well. He can run the bases but he has to become a better hitter."
The longer Pham is away the more he is adjusting, and he said, "Winning helps. This game is really fun when everyone is playing well and when the team is winning."
The Rays are 19-6 with Pham in the lineup. "So I've got to stay in the lineup," Pham said.
All the while, he can hope the Cardinals maintain their pace. "I get a playoff share," said Pham.
