Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham is at the center of the baseball world this weekend due to his recent altercation with San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson.
Pham reportedly confronted and slapped Pederson because of a dispute over a fantasy football league they were both in last year. After a quick investigation, Pham received a three-game suspension.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Pham opened up about his altercation with Pederson. He claims Pederson made disrespectful” comments about his former team, the San Diego Padres.
“I slapped Joc,” Pham told reporters. “He said some s–t I don’t condone. I had to address it.”
Pham then commented on his fantasy league with Pederson, saying there was “too much money on the line” and “he was messing with my money.”
This story doesn’t exactly line up with what Pederson said on Friday night.
“We were in fantasy league together. I put a player on the injured reserve when they were listed as out and then added another player,” Pederson said. “And then there was a text message in the group [chat] saying that I was cheating because I was stashing players on my bench. Then, I don’t know, I looked up the rules and sent a screenshot of the rules saying that when a player is ruled out, you’re allowed to put them on the IR. That’s all I was doing.”
Hopefully, this situation will be water under the bridge in the near future.