In late June, Orioles pitching prospect Alex Pham got the call that he was being moved up to Double-A Bowie.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound right-handed pitcher has started three games for his new team. Pham has pitched a total of 13 innings, only giving up seven hits, two earned runs, one home run and four walks while striking out 12.
Pham, 23, began the season at High-A Aberdeen, posting a 2.45 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 25 walks in 51.1 innings, mostly as a starter. He allowed 14 earned runs, 29 hits and five home runs.
“I’m just really grateful to have these great coaches take me through a great program. We had a great plan going into [the season],” Pham said on Glenn Clark Radio June 29. “I just did my best to just get better each day with the vision of what we wanted to achieve during the season.”
The Orioles drafted Pham in the 19th round of the 2021 draft. He reported to the Florida Complex League before being promoted to Low-A Delmarva to finish the season. He pitched for the Shorebirds and IronBirds in 2022, working in relief for both teams.
Pham’s confidence in his abilities has grown in his role as a starter this year.
“When they told me they wanted to try and move me into a starter role, it was just nice to know that they had plans for me,” Pham said. “I’m just really grateful [for] them just putting the time and effort into me and my development, so I’m just trying to do my best to continue to earn the right to play for this [organization] and just do what I can to make them proud.”
Pham throws a four-seam fastball, cutter, curveball, splitter and sweeper. The latter two are new to his arsenal. He is also throwing harder this year after adding some strength.
“I think I was about somewhere from 90 to 92, and then I ran into some injuries last year too, which also hindered my performance on the field, but now I’ve been able to get up to maybe three or four, sometimes even five,” Pham said.
Pham played his college ball at the University of San Francisco, where he finished tied for fourth on the all-time saves list (11) and seventh on the strikeouts list (213). He took home West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week honors twice during his career.
Pham began playing organized baseball when he was 4 years old and started playing travel baseball by the time he was 9.
“In high school, I think I was almost at the end of my career. I didn’t think I was going to play college, and I got really lucky with meeting a coach and he helped jumpstart my career,” Pham said. “I got a really good opportunity to play college at the University of San Francisco, and here I am now. I’m just really grateful to meet the people along the way that helped my career.”
Pham said that the Orioles have a lot of talent within the organization. He has had fun meeting his teammates, learning from them and competing with them.
“Have the end goal to make it all the way to Camden and help your team win a championship,” Pham said. “That would be a dream of mine, and I’m going to keep working each day to try to make that dream a reality.”
For more from Pham, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kadalena Messiano