Players who were overlooked in the minors

[ScotchMIrish]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

[Talkin' Baseball]

With the current crop, Brendan Donovan would fit that description.

[craviduce]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

he (Pham) missed nearly 3 full seasons in the minors because of injuries. The narrative he was held back despite how he did is quite a bit bogus...you get injured and your Org. has pretty good OF prospects, you're going to get lost in the shuffle. He got lost in the shuffle for about 4 years because of his injuries....THEN, he makes it to AAA and collides with Brown (I think that was his name) in the OF and goes on the IL. Pham ran into an unlucky streak, and then he started blaming people (me guessing here, but that probably didn't help his case).

[rockondlouie]

R. Ludwick

Up until age 28 only 104 games in MLB

Then.....

...488 games as a Cardinal age 28-30:
.280 .349 .507 .857

[ScotchMIrish]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

he (Pham) missed nearly 3 full seasons in the minors because of injuries. The narrative he was held back despite how he did is quite a bit bogus...you get injured and your Org. has pretty good OF prospects, you're going to get lost in the shuffle. He got lost in the shuffle for about 4 years because of his injuries....THEN, he makes it to AAA and collides with Brown (I think that was his name) in the OF and goes on the IL. Pham ran into an unlucky streak, and then he started blaming people (me guessing here, but that probably didn't help his case).

He had some injuries but he posted an OPS over .800 3 seasons in milb and never got the call. I admire his persistence. Most players would have quit.

[ScotchMIrish]

R. Ludwick

Up until age 28 only 104 games in MLB

Then.....

...488 games as a Cardinal age 28-30:
.280 .349 .507 .857

Another excellent example.

[C-Unit]

One factor for Giles was he was on that loaded Cleveland team. If in another organization, he would have been a full-time player much earlier.

[ecleme22]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

he (Pham) missed nearly 3 full seasons in the minors because of injuries. The narrative he was held back despite how he did is quite a bit bogus...you get injured and your Org. has pretty good OF prospects, you're going to get lost in the shuffle. He got lost in the shuffle for about 4 years because of his injuries....THEN, he makes it to AAA and collides with Brown (I think that was his name) in the OF and goes on the IL. Pham ran into an unlucky streak, and then he started blaming people (me guessing here, but that probably didn't help his case).

There is a saying: Two things can be right at the same time.

Pham's first year was 2006.
Pham got his first taste of MLB in 2014.

So, he could've still missed 3 full seasons in the minors, had eye issues, etc and STILL could've been overlooked when he finally made his way to the MLB.

Pham was DEFINITELY marginalized compared to Piscotty, Grichuk and even Adams and Bourjos at times.


We saw the same [shirt] with Randy and Adolis treated like afterthoughts compared to O'Neill and Bader...

[Basil Shabazz]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

he (Pham) missed nearly 3 full seasons in the minors because of injuries. The narrative he was held back despite how he did is quite a bit bogus...you get injured and your Org. has pretty good OF prospects, you're going to get lost in the shuffle. He got lost in the shuffle for about 4 years because of his injuries....THEN, he makes it to AAA and collides with Brown (I think that was his name) in the OF and goes on the IL. Pham ran into an unlucky streak, and then he started blaming people (me guessing here, but that probably didn't help his case).

Oh no… ecleme will be coming after you for taking a shot at his man crush TP.

[craviduce]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

he (Pham) missed nearly 3 full seasons in the minors because of injuries. The narrative he was held back despite how he did is quite a bit bogus...you get injured and your Org. has pretty good OF prospects, you're going to get lost in the shuffle. He got lost in the shuffle for about 4 years because of his injuries....THEN, he makes it to AAA and collides with Brown (I think that was his name) in the OF and goes on the IL. Pham ran into an unlucky streak, and then he started blaming people (me guessing here, but that probably didn't help his case).

Oh no… ecleme will be coming after you for taking a shot at his man crush TP.

I don't have anything against Tommy Pham, other than he can rub an entire locker room the wrong way. That's documented. He was an incredible talent, and a medical miracle.

I just saw things unfold much differently concerning Pham. If he avoids 2 of those 4 injuries while in the Minors, then he doesn't get surpassed by Piscotty, Grichuk, Taveras, etc, etc....maybe even Carpenter...different position, yes, but we would've been hearing about the AA hitting accolades of Tommy Pham rather than Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams.

Bad luck, I think.

[ecleme22]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

he (Pham) missed nearly 3 full seasons in the minors because of injuries. The narrative he was held back despite how he did is quite a bit bogus...you get injured and your Org. has pretty good OF prospects, you're going to get lost in the shuffle. He got lost in the shuffle for about 4 years because of his injuries....THEN, he makes it to AAA and collides with Brown (I think that was his name) in the OF and goes on the IL. Pham ran into an unlucky streak, and then he started blaming people (me guessing here, but that probably didn't help his case).

Oh no… ecleme will be coming after you for taking a shot at his man crush TP.

I don't have anything against Tommy Pham, other than he can rub an entire locker room the wrong way. That's documented. He was an incredible talent, and a medical miracle.

I just saw things unfold much differently concerning Pham. If he avoids 2 of those 4 injuries while in the Minors, then he doesn't get surpassed by Piscotty, Grichuk, Taveras, etc, etc....maybe even Carpenter...different position, yes, but we would've been hearing about the AA hitting accolades of Tommy Pham rather than Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams.

Bad luck, I think.

Actually, Pham is popular with teammates.

Also, you act as though RG and SP passed by TP while he was injured. He had an .886 ops in AAA 2014…. Much higher than RGs. In 2015 AAA, his OPS was 60 points higher than Piscotty’s….

[zuck698]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

Johan Santana. Nothing special in the minors but became a 2 time CY winner. Randy Johnson had trouble with strikes early on but I think he got that figured out.

[Bushiro]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

Johan Santana. Nothing special in the minors but became a 2 time CY winner. Randy Johnson had trouble with strikes early on but I think he got that figured out.

Should Santana be in the hof?

[zuck698]

Without looking it up Brian Giles and Tommy Pham come to mind.

Pham's first year was 2006 but didn't get significant time in MLB until 2015 despite having some good seasons in the minors. Gotta respect someone with that much perseverance.

Giles' first year was 1989. Didn't get significant time in MLB until 1996. 1993 thru 1995 he posted OPS of .850+ each season.

It has to be frustrating for a guy to be stuck in the minors for years while putting up good numbers.

Johan Santana. Nothing special in the minors but became a 2 time CY winner. Randy Johnson had trouble with strikes early on but I think he got that figured out.

Should Santana be in the hof?

I think he was awesome but longevity probably holds his resume down. Koufax pitched around the same number of years and their overall results were in the similar category, so a person could make a case. Not saying Santana was as good as Sandy. Just stating that the win % was very close. Koufax had a little better ERA and had a few more wins and strikeouts. Great question and really hard for me to answer, but some of the people getting in lately, makes me think sure, why not! It is becoming the Hall of Very Good it seems to me.

What do you think about him Bushiro?

[Adam2]

Corey Kluber never had a lot of hype in the minors. I would also say Mariano Rivera. I don't believe he was ever even a top 5 prospect in the yankees system