Tommy Pham Wants to Fight Luke Voit After 'Dirty' Slide That Injured Tyler Stephenson
By Liam McKeone
Luke Voit got the Cincinnati Reds all riled up last night when he knocked catcher Tyler Stephenson out of the game in the bottom of the first with a weird slide that saw Voit's torso collide directly with Stephenson's face. The San Diego Padres slugger is not exactly the most graceful baserunner so it's hard to determine if he intentionally stumbled into Stephenson or if it was an inadvertent consequence of clunky basepath navigation, but you can decide for yourself.
Luke Voit laid some solid contact on Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson pic.twitter.com/JkYKwZBnu8
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 20, 2022
The Reds don't think there's a question about it. They believe it was a dirty play that knocked their starting catcher out in the early going. Tommy Pham, in particular, was incensed afterwards. He called it "dirty as f---" before stating that he has access to a gym in his former home of San Diego where he'd be willing to fight Voit.
Tommy Pham says Luke Voit’s slide that injured Tyler Stephenson was “dirty as f—.” Kyle Farmer wasn’t happy with it either.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) April 20, 2022
Pham said he knows a gym owner in San Diego and said he’s willing to fight Luke Voit
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 20, 2022
Tommy Pham on Luke Voit's slide into Tyler Stephenson: " If Luke wants to settle it, I get down really well. Anything. Muay Thai, whatever. Like I said, I've got an owner here who will let me use his facility. So fuck 'em. I'm out."
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 20, 2022
Pham is just sticking up for his guy, but Muay Thai seems a bit extreme. Dirty or not, though, Voit's slide has consequences; Stephenson has already been placed on the concussion list and will be out of action for at least a week.
The two teams will face off again today with first pitch coming in the afternoon. Retaliation may be in store.