After Tommy Pham was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2018 trade deadline, he almost immediately (after some time on the DL) became one of the best players in baseball. During his time with Tampa Bay, Pham hit .343/.448/.622 with 7 home runs, 191 wRC+, and 2.5 fWAR over 39 games.

Thus, MLB Network has named him the 4th best left fielder in baseball.

MLB Network’s Top 10 LF

1. J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox
2. Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees
3. Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves
4. Tommy Pham, Tampa Bay Rays
5. Justin Upton, Los Angeles Angels
6. Juan Soto, Washington Nationals
7. Marcell Ozuna, St Louis Cardinals
8. Michael Conforto, New York Mets
9. Khris Davis, Oakland Athletics
10. David Peralta, Arizona Diamondbacks

Tommy Pham is 3rd among those in the American League East, but really...he should be first as Martinez and Stanton likely won’t see that much time in the field. Martinez played 62% of his game as a DH in 2018, while Giancarlo Stanton spent 52% of his time as the Yankees DH. Meanwhile, Pham only played two of his 39 games with the Rays as the DH, despite his injury problems.

In 2019, the Rays certainly being looking forward to a having Tommy Pham in their lineup for a full season as he has now been one of the better players in baseball over the past two years. Pham has put up 10.1 fWAR over that timeframe, good for the 14th highest in the majors, despite being injured for the majority of the 2018 season.

As spring training nears, Pham will likely be penciled in as the Rays everyday left fielder, batting in the upper third of the starting lineup on most given nights.