Pham sees an improvement at the plate, particularly by drawing walks and making pitchers work longer, as two key components to the top hitting teams in the MLB, which will bring the Pirates closer to postseason success, if they work towards that.

The benches briefly cleared during Pittsburgh's 5-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. Pham's demonstrable reaction to drawing a walk in the seventh inning elicited a response from Toronto catcher Tyler Heineman, and things escalated from there.

The Pirates' Tommy Pham and Blue Jays' Tyler Heineman caused benches to clear on Tuesday, and Pham let it be known he was ready for more.