Tommy Gilligan/USA Today Sports
On Sunday, Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper got into a brawl in the dugout, a seemingly fitting end to the Nationals' season.
Papelbon was suspended for the remainder of the regular season for his roll in the melee and Harper will sit out Monday's game. While the fight was ugly, one former player has a huge problem with what led to the fight in the first place.
The entire mess started when Papelbon confronted Harper about not running hard on a fly ball.
Mark DeRosa, who played in the big leagues for 16 years and who is now a commentator for the MLB Network, has a problem with that. On the MLB Network's "MLB Central," DeRosa ripped Papelbon for calling out another player for lack of hustle (via Jake Russell of the Washington Post):
"Here's my problem with Jonathan Papelbon. You've played 63 innings this year. You've been in the clubhouse probably - every closer I've ever been with - through the fifth inning getting a rubdown, eatin' a sandwich, doing your Jobe exercises, takin' your time. You've earned that right. His pedigree - he's earned the right to do that. That's the way [John Smoltz] went about it. All the great closers I played with, they're not gonna get down there in the first inning. You're top-stepping a guy who's played in 1,262 innings, who's hitting .336 with 41 homers, is gonna be the National League MVP and you're questioning whether or not he goes to the post every day. That's tired, okay? No reliever should tell a position player anything about hustle. Go stand out there in the rain, sleet and snow while you guys are giving up gap shots. That bothered me."
There are two sides to this. Yes, you want a player to hustle. Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who is going to win his third Manager of the Year award this season, famously has one rule: run hard to first base. It's a simple thing.
But at the same time, the Major League Baseball season is a longgggg season where position players typically play six days a week for seven months. Most people know to look the other way if a guy occasionally gets frustrated and doesn't run out a pop-up, especially if that guy is producing for your team.
But the bigger issue here for DeRosa is a good one, Papelbon is the wrong guy to be calling out Harper. That's not to say Harper shouldn't be called out, but that it shouldn't be done by a guy who pitches one inning once every 2-3 games.
Both players dismissed the issue by comparing the incident to brothers fighting.
Papelbon: "I grew up with brothers, he grew up with brothers, I view him as a brother, and sometimes in this game, there's a lot of testosterone and things spill over."
Harper: "He apologized, so whatever. I really don't care. ... It's like brothers fighting. That's what happens."
Still, Papelbon has only been with the Nationals since the trade deadline - that's 23.2 innings of work in 57 games for Papelbon - so, how much brotherhood could there really be? The Nationals are still on the hook with Papelbon, who is owed $11 million next season. It will be interesting to see if he pitches for the Nationals again.