Apr 1, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets left fielder Mark Canha (19) celebrates with center fielder Tommy Pham (28) after winning the game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
MLB: New York Mets at Miami Marlins
(Queens, NY) – Well it seems the postmortem for the 2023 New York Mets is getting underway.
In an interview with The Athletic, Tommy Pham now claims to have the answers as to why the Mets failed to live up to expectations. In a word: hustle. Or lack thereof. Pham, now with the Arizona Diamondbacks, told reporters Tim Britton and Will Sammon that the Mets didn’t work hard enough this year.
Pham says he told Lindor, “out of all the teams I played on, this is the least-hardest working group of position players I’ve ever played with.”
Lindor apparently received that well, per The Athletic, as the veteran SS reportedly said he appreciated Pham’s strong example. When the article’s reporters asked Nimmo about work ethic, the outfielder said: “Each person needs to assess that individually. You can only lead a horse to water; you can’t make him drink. Ultimately, a lot of this comes down to individuals and what they’re willing to do.”
Of course, such an assessment of the Mets work ethic is a serious criticism, and one fans are likely to be curious about. But it also fails to account for Justin Verlander’s’ key injury early on, Jose Quintana’s extended absence from the starting rotation, Max Scherzer’s sticky-stuff suspension and diminished stuff, an all-around atrocious bullpen, and the season-ending injury to Edwin Diaz.
Other than that, Pham – who’s played for seven different teams since debuting in 2014, and who once slapped fellow big leaguer Joc Pederson over an alleged fantasy football dispute – seems like a tremendous judge of character.
And yet removing one’s tongue from their cheek, it’s fair to say that Pham has had a strong bounceback season when looking at his statline, and his intensity/work ethic is rarely questioned. But – it’s also a long laundry list when looking for reasons why the 2023 Mets stunk. A reserve outfielder’s take on the team’s work ethic is something to be taken into consideration, if nothing else.
