Padres’ Tommy Pham lucky to be playing again after stabbing

Tommy Pham knows how lucky he was to be in the starting lineup for the San Diego Padres in their spring opener Sunday in Peoria, Arizona, 4½ months after he was stabbed in the lower back during an altercation in the parking lot of a strip club. “The doctor here basically told me if I wasn’t so muscular, I might be dead or paralyzed,” the left fielder said.

As he was being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance on Oct. 11, three nights after the Padres were eliminated from the playoffs, Pham was on the phone with GM A.J. Preller and trainer Mark Rogow.“i thought I wasn’t going to be able to play,” Pham recalls telling the club officials.

“When I got the CT scan, the doc was like, ‘I’ve got great news for you. You can play.’ She just said it’s going to be a little bit of a recovery.”

Pham, 32, said late last year that he needed 200 stitches to close the gash. The San Diego Police Department is still investigating the altercation, and no arrests have been made.

Pham said his recovery included bed rest, and then he flew to San Francisco every week for about six weeks to get injections of Regenokine to help with inflammation. “I worked with a few doctors on getting to where I’m at because it’s only been about 4½ months and the timeline is normally a little bit longer,” he said.

After being traded from Tampa Bay to San Diego, Pham was limited to 31 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season due to an injury to his left hand that required surgery in mid-august. He hit .211 with three home runs and 12 RBIS, but hit .375 in the playoffs. He had another hand surgery in October, and says he’s at about 80% now.