Outfielder Tommy Pham had played for five MLB teams prior to joining the New York Mets last winter.

Pham told former Mets teammate Francisco Lindor that the 2023 Mets stood out among those teams for their lack of work ethic, according to The Athletic's Tim Britton and Will Sammon.

"Out of all the teams I played on, this is the least-hardest working group of position players I've ever played with," Pham told Lindor during a dinner with Mets teammates in June.

According to Pham's recollection shared by Britton and Sammon, "the players at the restaurant seemed receptive to what he had to say."

Pham later told Britton and Sammon that he had respect for the work ethic of Mets leaders including Lindor, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.

When the Mets traded Pham to the Arizona Diamondbacks in August, Lindor said he thanked Pham "for teaching me how to work hard again," per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Pham's suggestions included additional batting practice and "simply working harder," according to Britton and Sammon.

Pham's own work ethic has been complimented by Mets owner Steve Cohen, who said following the Diamondbacks trade that Pham "played his heart out as a Met" on X, formerly known as Twitter. At the time of the trade, Pham was batting .268 with 10 home runs, 36 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 79 games.

After making his MLB debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2014, Pham played for the Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres during his first seven seasons in the majors.

The Diamondbacks mark Pham's fourth team in two years. Another midseason trade sent him from the Cincinnati Reds to the Boston Red Sox in 2022.

Pham signed a one-year deal with the Mets in January with the idea that he was one of a few free-agent acquisitions bolstering a title contender. He expected the team would be buying at the deadline, the outfielder told the New York Post's Dan Martin.

Instead, Pham quickly saw the Mets' playoff chances shrink. His reported comments took place at a dinner following a brutal three-game sweep by the Atlanta Braves, during which the Mets blew a trio of consecutive three-run leads for the first time in franchise history.

Pham is now one of the players contributing to the Mets' misery. He hit a single, double and home run to lead the Diamondbacks to a 4-3 comeback victory September 12 in New York.

The Mets currently sit 8.0 games back of an NL wild card spot with 10 games remaining in the season. For Cohen, who has said he hopes to contend next fall, Pham's assertion that the Mets' core is not part of their problem could serve as a spark of hope for the 2024 team.