CLEVELAND -- A chance encounter in an elevator led to White Sox outfielder Tommy Pham being activated off the 10-day injured list and making an immediate impact in the 6-3 series-finale loss against the Guardians on Wednesday afternoon.
Pham, who had been on the IL since Sept. 2 with a left calf strain, belted a towering three-run homer off All-Star Parker Messick in the fifth inning to give Chicago a 3-2 lead.
It was his first hit in the Majors since Sept. 28, 2025, when he was playing for the Pirates, and the first time in his 13-year career that Pham has hit a go-ahead homer with his team trailing by multiple runs.
“It’s a great feeling to give us the lead, and from a team perspective, to kind of get the monkey off the team’s back with runners in scoring position,” Pham said. “But we lost the game, so it’s pointless.”
Pham, who was acquired from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations on Aug. 31, only appeared in one game with Chicago before getting hurt. He went 1-for-4 in his return to action on Wednesday.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz and Pham found themselves on the same elevator late Tuesday night, shortly after a gut-wrenching 7-6 loss on Brayan Rocchio’s walk-off two-run double against Grant Taylor.
The 38-year-old Pham wasn’t slated to come off the IL until the next series against the Tigers, but the timetable accelerated when he told Getz that he was “good enough to play.”
“If I didn’t see him on the elevator, I probably would have had to wait until this weekend,” Pham admitted. “Every game is like a must win. You have to make the right plays, and you have to do the winning things every day.
“Every game matters right now when you’re in a playoff race.”
Pham was thrown right into the fire as the cleanup hitter and made the most of his elevator pitch, sending Messick’s curveball 412 feet into the bleachers in left-center. Chase Meidroth and Randal Grichuk came home, sending a jolt of energy through the visiting dugout.
"I told [Getz] I could play today. I said I'm ready," Pham said during an in-game interview after the homer. "I went right to the source."
Chicago manager Will Venable called the homer “a big blow there,” while starting pitcher Anthony Kay celebrated in the clubhouse after coming out of the game.
“It was awesome,” Kay said. “That’s a big boost for the team and what we needed.”
Earlier in the season, Pham went hitless in 13 at-bats with the Mets before being designated for assignment. He subsequently signed with the Orioles and Phillies on Minor League contracts, but didn’t play for their big league clubs.
Pham went 0-for-1 in his Chicago debut as a pinch-hitter at the Astros on Sept. 2.
“If anything, these experiences this year have prepared me for this,” said Pham, who hit .238 in 69 total Minor League games for the Mets, Orioles and Phillies’ farm systems. “I’ve gone way longer between at-bats than ever before, so I’ve been preparing in the cage.”
This marks Pham’s second stint with Chicago. He batted .266 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 70 games for the White Sox in 2024, then was dealt to the Cardinals with current teammate Erick Fedde in a three-team trade that netted the White Sox slugger Miguel Vargas from the Dodgers.
Catcher Edgar Quero was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte in order to make room for Pham on the active roster.
“Tommy is maybe not at 100 percent, but you appreciate the edge and the passion that he has,” Venable said. “It helps a team a lot.”
Pham is a career .256 hitter with 150 homers, 525 RBIs and 131 stolen bases. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder has played for 10 teams, including the Diamondbacks during their 2023 National League pennant-winning season.
“I’m going to be treating the calf for another week,” he said. “But I’m happy to be back.”