Report: MLB investigating threats toward nephew of D-backs’ Tommy Pham

Major League Baseball has begun the process of investigating what has been described by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale as “cyber-hate messages” directed toward a 13-year-old relative of an Arizona Diamondback.

The incident spurred following a verbal altercation in San Diego between the Diamondbacks’ Tommy Pham and some fans at Petco Park. Clips of the video went viral online with fans and the outfielder yelling and swearing at each other.

MLB is investigating cyber-hate messages directed towards the 13-year-old nephew of Arizona #Dbacks OF Tommy Pham.
Pham had a verbal altercation with #Padres fans over the weekend in San Diego, with #Mets owner Steve Cohen and D-backs manager Torey Lovullo coming to his defense.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 22, 2023

The argument continued onto social media, in which, on one post (explicit language warning), Pham offered $100,000 for the accuser to take a lie detector that he didn’t swear at him.

Pham would also bring attention to the fact that people were targeting his nephew on Instagram. In another post on X (explicit language warning), Pham said to leave his nephew out of the situation.

On Saturday, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo came to Pham’s defense following the altercation in San Diego, saying to reporters after the game, “I don’t know the details of it. I just didn’t like what’s coming out of these fans’ mouth. It’s real, I’m not making that up. If you get near our dugout, you’d be amazed at what’s being said.”

Pham, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the New York Mets, has owner Steve Cohen coming to his defense as well.

I will clear up any misperception about Tommy Pham. He was a great guy and a terrific teammate. He played his heart out as a Met

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) August 21, 2023