Tommy Pham earns redemption after bizarre outfield gesture had Pirates fans confused

The Pirates are off to a rough start, and sitting at the bottom of the NL Central Division with a 5-8 record at the time of writing. As you can imagine, there are plenty for critics to point at for a team which has only been to the playoffs three times since 1992, and was recently ranked by The Athletic as the worst Major League franchise of the 21st century.

The negative perspectives includes critiquing individual players on the Pirates roster, such as Tommy Pham, who signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the team back in February.

With Pham specifically, the criticism has extended to comments about his attire during games. Fans couldn't even begin to make sense of why he was caught wearing a batting glove on his throwing hand during a cold winter's night on Wednesday.

Some Pirates fans also defending Tommy Pham amid wardrobe allegations

Now, yes, it's an interesting makeup, and worth noting that no other player on the field was sporting a similar look. However, it wasn't all one-way traffic, with some people sticking up for Pham with a mindset akin to a close-knit family, i.e. "We're allowed to criticize them, but no one else better do so!"

In this respect, there were indeed people saying Pham's glove situation did not negatively impact his ability to throw the ball. In any event, we have a theory -- and we can't stress enough that it is just that, and perhaps a reach -- as to why the 37-year-old is sporting his current look.

Tommy Pham open to anything to get out of hitting funk with Pirates

At the time of writing, Pham has been the least productive member of the Pirates' regular lineup when it comes to hitting. Early or not in the season, a .108 batting average, ,344 OPS and -1 OPS+ undoubtedly make for horrific reading.

Now, as the majority of sports fans are aware, professional athletes and coaches can be a superstitious bunch, ranging from normal ones to the outright ridiculous. Whereas eight-time Silver Slugger Wade Boggs ate chicken before every game, five-time All-Star Jason Giambi wore ... wait for it ... a golden thong to help him overcome slumps.

These superstitions can also lead to athletes making some interesting decisions and, at times, mixing it up a bit. This brings to mind a game by former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, when he tried two gloves, one glove, white shoes, black shoes and one of each, in his attempts to try and start having success on the field.

The point to all this is that perhaps Pham is just trying something different, in an attempt to get out of his funk. When you're a career .256 hitter with a .769 OPS and 110 OPS+ over 11+ Major League seasons, it must be a shock to be performing so poorly for a team, thus leading to being open to a lot of different things to improve your performances. If he eventually resorts to the Giambi approach, then you'll know he's really concerned about his slump.

In any case, Pham responded with a game-tying single in extra innings on Wednesday afternoon, en route to an eventual Pirates win. The system works!

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