Pirates' Tommy Pham hopes he's turned a corner with 'complicated' vision, contact lens issues

In Tommy Pham’s debut campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the lows have exceeded the highs.

For much of this season, Pham has struggled to maintain a batting average north of the Mendoza line.

While offering steady defense in left field, he didn’t hit his first home run until Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, with only six extra-base hits through 158 at-bats entering the game.

Pham, 37, is also striking out at a 29.7% rate.

So what’s allowed Pham to stay the course and avoid being consumed by an abundance of frustration stemming from a difficult year to date?

“You’ve got to keep going, man,” Pham said Sunday afternoon, after he played a big role in the Pirates’ 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers. “You’ve got to keep working. If you give up, your team will give up on you. There’s a reason why they’ve been sticking with me, because day-in, day-out, they see me putting in the work.”

Pham put together arguably his best game in a Pirates uniform Sunday, going 3 for 3 with a pair of RBI doubles and a sacrifice fly, driving in three runs.

Pham’s fifth-inning double (he hit another one in the seventh) was his first extra-base hit since April 26.

Tommy Pham is now 3-3 today with 2 doubles and 3 RBI

8-3 PIRATES pic.twitter.com/HKGe9aJ5r8

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) June 22, 2025

His three hits exceeded the total (two) he’d managed in 20 June at-bats before Sunday.

Pham’s extended offensive struggles have led to reduced playing time since Don Kelly took over as manager May 8, with Adam Frazier and Alexander Canario splitting reps in left field.

But results aside, Pham’s approach has earned him praise inside the Pirates clubhouse.

“He’s a pro,” Kelly said. “He’s an awesome teammate. He’s on the rail every single day, whether he’s starting or not. He’s always trying to get better, and he’s helping other guys get better. … He works like he’s got 10 days in the big leagues, not 10 years.”

Speaking after Sunday’s game at PNC Park, Pham offered a self-diagnosis as to what’s plagued him at the plate this year. He said those struggles are largely the culprit of keratoconus, a condition in which the cornea thins and bulges like a cone and creates blurry vision.

In May, Pham detailed to TribLive how his condition affects him in the batter’s box, particularly tracking the ball out of a pitcher’s hand en route to the plate.

At the time, Pham was experiencing issues with the contact lenses he was wearing in-game.

From what he told reporters Sunday, those issues were not rectified in May.

That said, Pham slashed .293/.356/.293 in May, going 12 for 41 at the plate to find a bit of rhythm.

Pham alluded to some ongoing trial-and-error in working to remedy the circumstances with his contact lenses.

“I don’t think it’s really mechanical,” Pham said, assessing his offensive woes. “I think it was all visual for me. My prescription’s been off. I’ve been adjusting on the fly. … I’m telling you guys, it’s all visual. My contact situation’s been real complicated. So, we’re heading in a right direction, finally.”

Pham did not go into any specifics about what exactly he did to get things on the right track.

But he’s confident he cracked the code.

“I’ve been making changes weekly,” he said. “So, I think we’re heading in the right direction now. I’m pretty optimistic going forward now, so I should get that first homer, hopefully.”

Regardless of the particulars surrounding Pham’s quest to get a handle on his vision issues, the way he performed at the plate Sunday came as a relief and a chance to manufacture some momentum.

“(Sunday) felt better,” Pham said. “I’ve been working on some stuff, especially visually. It’s just good to finally see it come out on my side this time.”