Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Tommy Pham’s special night

In case you missed it, yesterday was an unofficial Tommy Pham day of sorts.

Prior to the 12-1 rout by the Rays over the Diamondbacks, Fox Sports Sun debuted its newest edition of ‘Inside Pitch’ with Tommy Pham as its main feature. Here are some notable quotes from the Rays left fielder:

I wouldn’t be in this situation without my drive. I’ve seen people experience half of what I’ve experienced and flat out quit.

I do smile—I mean, when I’m on the field, I’m just focused. A lot of people see me smiling in the offseason. If we keep winning and I hit some home runs, I’ll smile more.

Batting Average is not important. I care more about getting on base and driving the ball.

I was taught to win at a young age, and to have fun winning. Once you taste success, you want it more, and that’s what fuels me. It’s an addiction.

We’re probably the most exciting team in baseball. We’re young, and we know we’re good. The question is the consistency of it. Teams are coming for us now; they know that when they play us, they have to bring their a-game, so we have to bring our best.

That’s one thing that doesn’t get talked about enough, the atmosphere in the locker room.

If Pham is indeed addicted to success, he got his fix last night, sending a grand slam over the center field wall in the second inning, the first of his career:

Rays links

• Power rankings are in! The Rays are a consensus top two team in baseball. Here are how MLB dot com, ESPN and The Athletic rank the Rays
• TWIRB Podcast: Neil Solondz sits down with Austin Meadows, Marc Topkin, and more

• ICYMI: Rays send Wilmer Font to the Mets
• John Romano, Tampa Bay Times ($): Fear not Rays fans, Blake Snell is back in charge
• Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay TImes ($): Rays GM Neander ‘open to bullpen upgrade’

Other links

• Derek Dietrich: Major League Baseball player, part-time beekeeper:

• Former Rays bench coach and current Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was ejected last night, but not before an interesting hesitation from the home plate umpire:

• Maury Brown of Baseball America talks about 6 possible expansion cities for Major League Baseball
• Dallas Keuchel will not settle, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports

The Rays look to seal the series win tonight against their expansion rivals: