He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals.
In 2017, Pham became the first Cardinals batter since 1900 to record at least a .300 batting average, 20 home runs, 20 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
Pham's father was gifted in American football, but became entangled in drugs and street crime for decades.
She had not finished high school, and took on jobs as a busser, a casino waitress, and at a bakery, and raised the twins in Spring Valley, Nevada.
[2][3] At the age of two, Pham's pediatrician feared that he had contracted rickets, so he wore leg braces for a year and a half.
[7] As a senior, Pham was named the Class 4A All-State Player of the Year by the Reno Gazette-Journal and a second team All-American, after batting .581.
[11] Ultimately, after the St. Louis Cardinals selected him in the 16th round of the 2006 amateur draft, Pham opted for professional baseball over college.
[12] In 2007 he was then shifted to the outfield, and batted .188/.272/.277 with two home runs in 303 plate appearances for the Low–A Batavia Muckdogs and Single–A Swing of the Quad Cities.
[12] In 2008 he hit .203/.272/.396 with a career-high 156 strikeouts in 438 plate appearances for Single–A Quad Cities and the High–A Palm Beach Cardinals.
[12] In 2014-15 he played for Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League, batting .143 in 63 plate appearances.
He had homered in three consecutive plate appearances spanning his last at bat previous to the game, September 13 against the Cincinnati Reds.
Pham made his major league postseason debut as a pinch hitter during the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 2015 National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Cubs, and hit his first career home run against Jon Lester.
[30] Pham did not make the 2017 Opening Day roster out of spring training, and began the season at Memphis.
He finished the season batting .306/.411/.520 with 23 home runs, 73 RBIs, 22 doubles, and 25 stolen bases in 128 games.
He became the first Cardinals batter since 1900 to record at least a .300 average, 20 home runs, 20 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
[36] Pham said that he kept himself disciplined with intense workout regimens and used technology such as Statcast data to sharpen and increase his playing skills.
[18] On July 31, 2018, the Cardinals traded Pham to the Tampa Bay Rays along with $500,000 of international bonus pool money for minor leaguers Justin Williams, Génesis Cabrera, and Roel Ramírez.
On August 25, Pham hit his first home run in a Rays uniform, a solo shot off Brandon Workman of the Boston Red Sox.
[48][49] In 39 games for the Rays, he hit .343/.448/.622 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs, while primarily playing left field.
"[54] On December 6, 2019, Pham and Jake Cronenworth were traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Hunter Renfroe, Xavier Edwards, and a player to be named later (PTBNL).
[56] In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Pham slashed .211/.312/.312 with 3 home runs and 12 RBIs in 125 plate appearances over 31 games.
[15] On August 16, 2020, he suffered a fractured hamate bone in his left hand and underwent surgery, missing a month of action.
[58][59] In October 2020, Pham was in an altercation outside a strip club in San Diego, and was stabbed in his lower back.
[60][61] When fans later heckled him with profanity with regard to the incident, Pham said: "When someone comes up to me cursing at me like that, I could defend myself and, you know, I'm a very good fighter.
I don't do Muay Thai, kung fu and box for no reason.”[62] Later in the 2020 offseason, he underwent his third surgery since August.
[18] On August 1, 2022, Pham was traded to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
[18] On November 10, 2022, the Red Sox announced that both the team and Pham declined a mutual option, making him a free agent.
[79] By the summer, he was the team's starting left fielder; Will Sammon wrote in The Athletic that his signing "proved to be a coup" and that his performance in New York stood in stark contrast to his struggles of the previous year.
[81] On August 1, 2023, the Mets traded Pham and cash considerations to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for 17-year-old prospect Jeremy Rodriguez.
On July 29, 2024, the White Sox traded Pham to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a three-team deal that also sent Erick Fedde and a player to be named later to St. Louis, sent Tommy Edman, Michael Kopech and Oliver Gonzalez to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and sent Miguel Vargas, Alexander Albertus, Jeral Pérez and a player to be named later to the White Sox.