Pham's 2nd act draws comps to Cards legend

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. LOUIS -- If you tilted your head just right, squinted your eyes a little and allowed your imagination to roam free, Busch Stadium looked, sounded and even shook a bit like 2022 all over again this week.

That 2022 season, of course, will always be remembered in St. Louis circles for Albert Pujols’ return to the Cardinals and the almost magical manner that he carried the club on his back and along with him on a jaw-dropping journey through history. Even at 42 years old and past his prime, Pujols could still summon greatness out of that two-toned black-and-tan bat of his. And, somehow, he seemingly always met the moment and delivered when the Cards put the game in his very capable hands.

With one swing of the bat on Tuesday night, Tommy Pham -- another former Cardinal delighted to escape a last-place situation and be back in St. Louis to bask in a late-season pennant race -- showed off a unique ability to also meet the moment with some eye-popping power.

I wouldn’t dare compare Pujols and his 703 home runs to Pham, who has been a solid MLB player for 11 seasons and for seven other teams between two stints with the Cards. But so much of the Busch Stadium scene from Tuesday and Wednesday -- when the Cardinals throttled the defending champion Rangers for 18 runs, 23 hits and two victories -- felt eerily similar to 2022 when Pujols was still chewing up opposing pitchers.

Like with Pujols in 2022, Pham was brought back to St. Louis to try and rescue a Cardinals club floundering against left-handed pitching (29th in OPS versus lefties before Pham’s arrival). All the 36-year-old Pham did in his first at-bat back was send a hanging changeup from Texas left-hander Cody Bradford into the soupy-thick St. Louis night air and into the seats for a pinch-hit grand slam. Cards manager Oliver Marmol, who deftly handled Pujols during his early-season struggles and marveled at his late-season surge, promised that the Cardinals were getting a downright dangerous hitter in Pham, who possesses an eye-popping .928 OPS against southpaws this season.

“We didn’t just get a right-handed bat, we got a guy that lives and dies for winning baseball games,” Marmol said. “That’s who he is. And him walking through those doors is going to be meaningful.”

It was the first pinch-hit grand slam for a Cardinal since, well, Pujols did it on Aug. 18, 2022, at Busch Stadium vs. the Rockies. Pham’s Part II debut with the Redbirds might also have been the first time since Pujols retired that the Busch Stadium crowd murmured when a player stepped into the on-deck circle, stood in unison as that player walked to the plate and cheered with raw emotion until he doffed his helmet for a curtain call.

“That [ovation before the at-bat], that’s what really made it the most special for me,” said Pham, who admitted that his adrenaline was bubbling inside even though he remained stone-faced as he stepped into the box. “The crowd here being in the game, and pulling for you, it’s an amazing feeling. The fans make this place special.”

Also like that 2022 Pujols-led season, the Cardinals have trailed the front-running Brewers all season in the NL Central, and they were nearly out of it early on before coming alive. In '22, the Cards added left-handed pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana at the Trade Deadline, Pujols got hot and St. Louis ultimately zipped past Milwaukee en route to winning the division.

This time around, the Cardinals trimmed the deficit between them and the Brewers from seven games to five games in the first two nights after they acquired proven right-handed starter Erick Fedde, veteran reliever Shawn Armstrong and Pham at the Deadline. Could a 2022-like rally past Milwaukee be in the works again after St. Louis addressed its three greatest needs at the Deadline?

Pham, who registered three more hits and two more RBIs on Wednesday to push his production to 4-for-6 with three runs scored and six RBIs in two games, said there’s already a groundswell of unity and belief building inside the Cards' clubhouse.

“Any time your team is trying to get into the postseason and your front office acquires talent at the Deadline, it gives your team a jolt,” Pham said. “When you feel like you could get to the postseason, but your front office does nothing, it’s telling you, ‘They don’t think we can do anything; they don’t think we can win; we didn’t get any help.’ In this situation, it lets you know the front office has our back and it kind of lights up a clubhouse.”

Pham has certainly lit up the Cardinals -- much the way Pujols did two seasons ago.