Tommy

Pham

Pham was on the bench on Wednesday with Adam Frazier getting a start in right field. However, despite Frazier going 1-for-3, he’ll go back to the bench on Thursday against Gerrit Cole.

Hunter Renfroe got the nod over Pham against the Orioles’ Zach Eflin. Today’s lineup is the same the Royals used in the opener against Baltimore: 2B Michael Massey, SS Bobby Witt Jr., DH Vinnie Pasquantino, C Salvador Perez, 1B Yuli Gurriel, LF MJ Melendez, RF Pham, CF Kyle Isbel, 3B Maikel Garcia.

Renfroe will take the spot of Tommy Pham in the lineup as the Royals look to advance to the NLDS against the Yankees. Renfroe has hit well against Baltimore starter Zach Eflin in a small sample, going 5-for-13 with a 1.154 OPS. The full lineup: Michael Massey 2B, Bobby Witt Jr. SS, Vinnie Pasquantino DH, Salvador Perez C, Yuli Gurriel 1B, MJ Melendez LF, Renfroe RF, Kyle Isbel CF and Maikel Garcia hitting ninth at third behind Seth Lugo and the Kansas City pitching staff.

Pham got on base four times out of the leadoff spot in Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees. Somehow he failed to score any runs while hitting in front of Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. He might still have some AL-Only league appeal if he continues to hit leadoff for Kansas City. Pham is hitting .261 with a .777 OPS and 36 RBI on the year.

Pham is already making his presence known with the Royals. He torched his long ball 423 feet and it was the decisive blow in this game. Pham has also hit lead-off in all four of his games as a Royal and that spot looks like it will be his home for the foreseeable future. Hitting ahead of Bobby Witt Jr. is not a bad place to be.

Pham heads to Kansas City to attempt to help fill the void in their lineup created by the injury to Vinnie Pasquantino, who is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb. The 36-year-old veteran corner outfielder, who was placed on waivers earlier this week by the Cardinals, has seven homers and six steals in 93 games this season in the big leagues. He’ll be eligible for the postseason, if the Royals manage to get there.

The club place Pham on waivers on Thursday, but now it’s clear the team is moving on from Pham whether he’s claimed by another team or not. He’s hit .254 with seven home runs and 31 RBI this year.

With the Cardinals fading from postseason contention, they’ve made the decision to put the veteran outfielder on waivers to give him an opportunity to latch on with another team in time prior to Sunday’s deadline to still be eligible for the playoffs.

The Cardinals are pretty much in the same boat as the Giants, who just placed three veterans on waivers, but they’re not giving up just yet. Maybe a loss today would change their minds. Pham will make only about $300,000 over the rest of the season, so even though he hasn’t been great of late, he’d likely be claimed if waived.

José Fermín is replacing him on the roster. Gorman had a solid July, but he was 7-for-33 with no RBI and 11 strikeouts this month and was losing playing time. It definitely makes sense to let him go get regular at-bats against righties and lefties in Triple-A for a spell and see if that helps. Brandon Donovan will likely be the primary second baseman for now, opening up outfield time for Tommy Pham.