Royals reportedly interested in Tommy Pham

The 11-year vet can hit, but will he mesh with this team?

The Royals are dead last in offensive production from the outfielders, who have collectively hit .210/.270/.345 this year. J.J. Picollo recently talked about lengthening his lineup with another bat, and according to reporter Jon Heyman, White Sox outfielder Tommy Pham is a name they are considering.

The 36-year-old has been a career .260/.351/.433 hitter in 11 big leagues seasons. Last year he hit .256/.328/.446, and was acquired mid-season by the Diamondbacks, who went to the World Series. Despite that, he found it difficult to get contract offers this past off-season, and signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with incentives with the White Sox after the season began. In 39 games with Chicago, he’s hitting .276./349/.388 with three home runs.

Pham has generally been a good on-base hitter, something Picollo has said he is looking for. He has a career walk rate of 11.5 percent, although that has fallen to about 9.5 percent in the last three seasons. He has 15-20 home run power, and even stole 22 bases last year in 25 attempts. He is probably stretched in centerfield, but he provides solid defense in the corners.

Pham received notoriety for slapping outfielder Joc Pederson during batting practice in a dispute over a fantasy football league the two players participated in, leading to a three-game suspension. Fans have accused him of being a clubhouse cancer, but many former teammates have praised Pham for his intensity and clubhouse demeanor, as has Buck Showalter, who managed him with the Mets.

“People are so quick to brand guys like him, who have an opinion,” Showalter said. “He’s blatantly honest. Some people have trouble with that. Most of the time, the things he says, if you really think about them, he’s right.

“If you can’t handle the truth, you can’t handle him.”

Former Royals Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, who played with Pham, also vouched for him.

“He’s the same way now as then,’’ Moustakas says. “Plays the game hard. Never takes a pitch off. A true competitor. You see how fiery he is. His competitiveness rubs off on everyone in here.’’

Pham has been praised for his attention to detail and being accountable.

With the Mets, Pham applied a lesson he learned from the Padres’ Bobby Dickerson, now a coach with the Phillies.

“Good teams,” Dickerson said, “win the free-90 battle.”

The “free 90,” Pham said, refers to walks, errors, and stolen bases, the 90-foot increments teams either gain or lose during the course of a game. “That was one thing that really stuck with me,” Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “It was a great way to view the game, something that he brought that I hadn’t really thought of before.”

Pham could be just the kind of leader a young Royals team needs, giving them a kick in the pants and teaching them to do the little things necessary to win. He could also potentially be abrasive and rub them the wrong way, creating problems. It is very difficult to predict how different clubhouse personalities will mesh.

But what we do know is that he can hit, and would likely be a solid upgrade over what the Royals have in the outfield. As a rental, the asking price is not likely to be very high, and the White Sox should be motivated to get anything in return for him. The Royals will have to decide if they think Pham is the right fit for their team.