This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The St. Louis Cardinals’ struggles against left-handed pitching this season led to the return of a familiar face, one that paid quick dividends.
The Cardinals reacquired Tommy Pham from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade that also included the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
In a pinch-hit role on Tuesday, Pham launched a grand slam to blow open a close game in an 8-1 rout of the visiting Texas Rangers.
“Man, what a cool moment,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “For his first at-bat back home to do what he did today, that was special.”
Pham, who began his career by playing in parts of five seasons for the Cardinals, should be in the lineup when they face left-hander Andrew Heaney (4-10, 3.77 ERA) on Wednesday afternoon. The winner takes the three-game series, after the Rangers claimed Monday’s opener 6-3.
“We’ve got a right-handed bat we can use, man,” Marmol said. “Yeah, welcome back, Tommy.”
Heaney is coming off his most difficult start since April. He allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings during a game the Rangers eventually lost 6-5 at Toronto on Friday.
He is 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals.
Now that the Rangers are closer to full strength offensively, manager Bruce Bochy can try out some different batting orders.
He looked at Josh Smith leading off, Marcus Semien moving from leadoff to third and Josh Jung hitting seventh upon returning from the 60-day injured list after recovering from his wrist injury.
“We’re just tweaking it a little bit here,” Bochy said. “With Josh Jung coming back, you’re gonna see a little different lineup. So we wanted to take a look at it here in this series and maybe farther.
“I’m just hoping that any kind of change does something to get this offense going on a consistent basis. It’s going to take everybody. We can’t lean on one guy or two guys. Throughout the order, somebody’s got to do something that can help win a game.”
With the Cardinals amid a stretch of games on 16 straight days, Marmol is spreading out the pitching starts. During a seven-game span before and after the trade deadline, he is using seven different pitchers.
On Wednesday, prospect Michael McGreevy will make his major league debut, pushing Sonny Gray back to Thursday to open a four-game series in Chicago against the Cubs. Erick Fedde, who also came from the White Sox, will make his Cardinals debut on Friday.
Gray, who has a 6.75 ERA in his four starts in July, gets the extra rest after allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings against the Washington Nationals last Friday.
McGreevy, the 18th overall pick in 2021, is 5-7 with a 4.45 ERA in 20 starts at Triple-A Memphis this season. In his last three starts, McGreevy allowed five runs in 17 1/3 innings — and he threw six scoreless innings in his last outing. He’s ranked by MLB Pipeline as St. Louis’ No. 15 prospect.
The Rangers made a move just ahead of the trade deadline to bolster their bullpen by acquiring left-hander Andrew Chafin from the Detroit Tigers for two prospects on Tuesday.
The Cardinals also made a last-minute move, sending outfielder Dylan Carlson to the Tampa Bay Rays for reliever Shawn Armstrong.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado should be back in the Cardinals’ starting lineup Wednesday after resting on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
