Tommy Pham & Joc Pederson slap: Everything we know about the fantasy football feud involving Mike Trout

Fantasy football can make people do crazy things. MLB learned that the hard way over Memorial Day weekend.

Ahead of the Giants vs. Reds series that began on May 28, Cincinnati outfielder Tommy Pham had an altercation with San Francisco outfielder Joc Pederson. Pham walked to the outfield during batting practice and slapped Pederson full force. That sent both teams into a rage, as the benches cleared before the series even began.

The result? Pham accepted an immediate three-game suspension by MLB. It was worth it to him.

"He did some s— I don’t condone," Pham said, per The Athletic. "So I had to address it."

"You know what, I’ve got no regrets," Pham told USA TODAY Sports three weeks after the slap. "None at all. Joc deserved to be slapped."

What exactly did Pederson do? Here's an in-depth look at the feud between Pham and Pederson that has also dragged Mike Trout into the fray.

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Why did Tommy Pham slap Joc Pederson?

Pham slapped Pederson because of a dispute that stemmed from a fantasy football league in which both were involved.

In short, Pham believed that Pederson violated the rules of their league by stashing a player on Injured Reserve. Pederson thought he was within his rights to make the move he made and noted that Pham had made a similar one earlier in the season.

Additionally, Pham was not happy with some comments that Pederson made in their league's group text. Notably, Pederson — then with the Dodgers — poked fun at the Padres amid a losing stretch during their season, and that irked Pham, who played for San Diego in 2020 and 2021.

Tommy Pham slaps Joc Pederson video

Because Pham's slap occurred before the first game of the Reds vs. Giants series, few saw it happen live.

That said, Chad McCormack managed to obtain a video of the confrontation. Take a look below:

BREAKING: 96.3/92.5 The Big Jab has obtained exclusive rights to a never before seen video of Tommy Pham slapping Joc Pederson (via Chad McCormack’s sources) #JocPederson #Pham #tommypham #Joc @MorningJab @MannixBrothers @ThePMJab pic.twitter.com/0oXBwDDRdH

— Chad McCormack (@mccormack_chad) May 28, 2022

Pham hit Pederson pretty hard with that slap. In fact, it looked similar to Will Smith's slap on Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. We just didn't have a look quite as up close and personal of the Pham slap as we did of Smith's.

MORE: Why Giants manager Gabe Kapler is protesting the national anthem

Joc Pederson explains fantasy football dispute 

Pederson was the first of the duo to outline what happened. He said he put a player on his injured reserve list one week when the player was listed as out. He then added another player to his roster as a result.

Pham didn't take kindly to that move. He accused Pederson of cheating by stashing extra players on his bench. However, Pederson pointed out that the rules of their league allow fantasy owners to put players listed as out on IR. He also noted that Pham was doing the same thing with one of his running backs, Jeff Wilson Jr. of the 49ers.

Joc shares details of what happened in his fantasy football league that started his altercation with Tommy Pham today pic.twitter.com/d9NBTwPVoG

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 28, 2022

Pederson also said that the exchange happened "over a year ago," so Pham had evidently been holding a grudge long-term. 

"It was a surprise," Pederson said. "He kind of came up and said, like, I don't know, 'Remember last year?' And I was like, 'Fantasy football?' He was like, 'Yeah.'"

Pederson added that he didn't retaliate against Pham because "violence is never the answer." 

Tommy Pham explains fantasy football dispute

Pham steadfastly denied that the moves Pederson made were within the rules, as he explained to The Athletic a few days after the incident.

"We had rules to the IR, you know?" Pham said. "I know the ESPN app rules, we had our own individual rules."

As such, Pham didn't take kindly to Pederson's roster move. He also explained that several members of the fantasy league reached out to him and supported him after the blowup. One of his former teammates also told The Athletic that, like Pham, he "didn’t appreciate the way Pederson acted in the league."

"They know what’s up," Pham said.

Why was Pham so angry about Pederson's roster move? The self-described "big dog in Vegas" was upset because the fantasy league had a $10,000 buy-in. He believed that his chances of winning were being put in jeopardy by Pederson's alleged cheating.

"I looked at it like he was f–ing with my money along with the disrespect," Pham said.

The "disrespect" that Pham mentioned was allegedly dropped in the group text thread. Pederson took some shots at the Padres in the group — he explained that he was "close" with some other Padres that were in the fantasy league — and shared one of them, which was a comical GIF, with reporters.

However, Pham said "there was more than one" and that he took each personally.

"I got screenshots to prove it," Pham said. "He sent more than a few texts or jokes aimed at me or the Padres. That was only one. There were four or five."

The Padres GIF Joc Pederson sent to Tommy Pham

Pederson may well have sent more than one jab in the direction of Pham or the Padres, but Pederson shared just one with reporters.

While only a glimpse of the GIF was visible on camera, MLB Twitter worked hard to uncover it. They succeeded, as you can see below.

This is the Gif that got Joc Pederson slapped pic.twitter.com/A3FBnJSi1Q

— hi🅿️ablo (@hipablo) May 29, 2022

Certainly, this seems like a harmless jab from Pederson to one of his divisional rivals. We'll see if any of the other messages surface in wake of the slap.

How is Mike Trout involved in the Tommy Pham-Joc Pederson feud?

Mike Trout was dragged into the Pham vs. Pederson feud because he was the commissioner of the fantasy league of which the duo was a part. Pham brought him into it on Tuesday and blamed him for letting the issue get out of control.

"Trout did a terrible job, man," Pham said, with the hint of a smile, per The Athletic. "Trout’s the worst commissioner in fantasy sports. Because he allowed a lot of s— to go on and he could’ve solved it all."

While Pham's comments were strong, he also noted that Trout was forced into the role. So, that may have played a part in what Pham evidently views as a lackluster response.

"Nobody wanted to be commissioner, I didn’t want to be the f—ing commissioner. I’ve got other s— to do," Pham said. "He didn’t want to do it; we put it on him. It was kind of our fault too, because we made him commissioner."

Trout spoke to The Sporting News about his status as commissioner. He said that he wasn't sure whether he would resign from the post and acknowledged that commissioners tend to get flak no matter what they do.

"Every commissioner I know always gets booed," Trout said.

MORE: How Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are widening the gap between good and great hitters

Joc Pederson stats vs. Tommy Pham stats

For those looking for a "Tale of the Tape" for Pederson vs. Pham, here is how they each have performed this season.

Both Pederson and Pham made their MLB debuts in 2014. To date, Pederson has more homers at 160 while Pham has produced more WAR (16.2) than his counterpart during his MLB career.