Tommy Pham gets a chance to play for a winning White Sox team this time around.
Chicago acquired the veteran outfielder from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations Monday in a rare post-trade deadline move.
Pham is now eligible for the postseason since he joined the team before the Sept. 1 cutoff date, as the White Sox (72-65) enter the final month with a three-game lead in the AL Central.
The 38-year-old previously played for the White Sox in 2024 when the team went 41-121, the worst record in the modern era.
Pham spent 70 games with the franchise that season, while also appearing in 23 games each with the Cardinals and the Royals.
Both the player and the franchise are in much different states two years later.
Chicago has been one of the surprises in the American League and has a chance to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Pham is expected to join the team Tuesday when it visits AL West-leading Houston in a potential ALDS preview, according to MLB.com.
While the 2024 version of Pham was coming off a 1.5 WAR season in 2023, this older model owns a .680 OPS since the start of the 2025 season and had a putrid showing with the Mets earlier this year.
Pham went 0-for-13 with one walk, striking out seven times in nine games before the Mets cut bait.
The plan is for him to play against lefties, with Pham sporting a career .796 OPS against southpaws
“It means a lot. I’m really excited about Tommy Pham coming,” White Sox manager Will Venable said, per MLB.com. “As you look at it broadly, our need for a right-handed bat against left-handed pitching is something that we’re really excited about. And then the human being, the teammate, the edge that he brings, kind of who he is as a total player. I think he’s going to make a real big impact here.”
The White Sox also added fellow outfielder Jake Cave in a trade Monday, acquiring him for cash too from the Rays.
Veterans like Pham and Cave are eligible to be traded provided they are on minor-league teams with their respective teams and have not been added to the major-league roster.
Neither player is likely a needle-moving piece, but Chicago is hoping for some late-season production.
“That edge he’s got is real. I think it also works in a lot of different types of environments,” Venable said of Pham, according to MLB.com. “Our environment especially, with young guys, many of these guys are seeing these things and feeling these things as we go down the stretch for the first time.
“To have someone who not only has been there, but goes about his business with the right kind of edge that helps you get through these types of moments … He is going to be huge for us.”
