


Tommy Pham is in the midst of a poor season and was in a 1-for-16 slide at the plate entering Thursday, which helped explain why the Mets decided to pinch-hit for him with Daniel Vogelbach in Wednesday’s win, a day after the same thing happened on Tuesday.
Pham said Thursday he didn’t think that had ever happened to him in his career, but as he deals with what he called “sporadic” playing time, he also wondered if he had a future with the Mets.
“We’ll see,’’ Pham said before starting in left field against the Rays on Thursday, with Jeff McNeil in right for the injured Starling Marte. “We’ll see.”
“There are 29 other teams in this game,’’ Pham said. “I’ve been traded three times [in my career]. One thing I’ve learned is if you keep being a pro and working hard, somebody else might want you. I’m just going about my business.”
But the 35-year-old acknowledged he hasn’t played well enough when on the field to complain much.
“I’ve got to play better to get more playing time,’’ Pham said. “This game is not friendly. People don’t really care if you go 0-for-4 with four balls hit 110 [mph] that get caught or if you hit four balls off the end of the bat and fall for hits. It’s better to have four go off the end of the bat for hits. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. I’ll take the luck right now.”
To Pham’s point, which Buck Showalter has echoed, Pham’s average exit velocity is 93 MPH, which matches his career-high, and he had several well-struck shots during the series in Washington that went for outs.
Pham also noted his chase rate and strikeout rate for the season are both down and his walk rate is up.
“The good thing is I’m controlling the strike zone and hitting the ball hard,” Pham said. “If I just keep doing what I’m doing, over time the numbers will get better. Right now, my at-bats are so sporadic, it makes it harder. I’ll just keep going through my routine and something has to change, right?”