SAN DIEGO – Tommy Pham knows how lucky he was to be in the starting lineup for the San Diego Padres in his first spring game Sunday, four-and-a-half months after he was stabbed in the lower back during an altercation at the parking for a strip club.
It could have been a lot worse.
“The cut was deep. The doctor here basically told me that if I wasn’t so muscular, I could be dead or paralyzed,” the left gardener said during a video conference with reporters from Peoria, Arizona.
“I’m lucky. I’m lucky to be able to play.”
While he was being taken to hospital in an ambulance on Oct. 11, three nights after the Parents were eliminated from the playoffs, Pham was talking on the phone with general manager AJ Preller and trainer Mark Rogow.
“I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play,” Pham recalls having told club leaders.
“When I had the CT scan done, the doctor told me, ‘I have great news for you. You can play.’ She just said it would require a little rehabilitation.”
Pham said late last year that he needed 200 points to close the wound. A video posted online showed the bottom of the white shirt soaked in blood.
The San Diego Police Department is still investigating and no arrests have been made.
Preller said Sunday that “obviously it’s not the kind of news you expect, that kind of phone call.”
Preller said Pham was “a matter of fact in terms of talking about what happened. The biggest approach for us was to make sure we were able to take our doctors to the case and try to make sure we were being smart in providing all the possible benefits in the care he needed at the time. “
Preller said the first thing that stood out “is the luck he had, when it comes to a stab wound in any area, but that it was as deep and extensive as it was. If it were an inch in any direction, maybe a different result.When we overcame this hurdle, with his work ethic and the way he attacks things and gets into the gym and takes care of himself, he was going to give himself every possible opportunity to come back.
“He’s in very good shape. He obviously had a few different injuries last year. I think he’s ready to play.”
Pham said his recovery included bed rest and then flew to San Francisco each week for about six weeks to receive injections of Regenokine to help with the inflammation.
“I worked with some doctors to get to where I am because it’s only been about 4 and a half months, and the deadline is usually a little longer,” he said.
The injury affects him when he tries to do squats and deadlifts in the weight room.
“My rules aren’t there yet. You don’t really have to do a lot of squats or do a lot of deadlift to be a good baseball player,” he said.
After being traded from Tampa Bay Ray to San Diego, Pham, 32, was limited to 31 games during the 2020 season shortened by the pandemic due to a left hand injury that required mid-range surgery. August. Beat 211 with three homers and 12 RBIs. He hit .375 in the playoffs.
He had another hand surgery in October.
He says it is at around 80%.
“I probably have more to prove because I had a terrible year,” said Pham, who recited a series of analyzes that were inactive. “Besides, this is also my year as a free agent. So I feel like I have more to prove.”
Pham said his outlook has not changed since the stabbing.
“I still see everything almost the same. In any case, I would probably spend more money and stop saving so much, because if I died I would feel like I have too much money in the bank and I don’t live long enough.”