Jonathan Papelbon yelled from his locker to Washington Nationals clubhouse attendant Mike Wallace in the middle of the room. The message: tell Gio Gonzalez to get on the stationary bike.
Out on the practice fields in Viera, Florida, Papelbon stopped a drill because Gonzalez wasn’t doing it right, something new manager Dusty Baker said was “a sign to me of a good team.”
The Nationals hope to become a good team again, but it wasn’t clear if Papelbon would be a part of the club six months after a dugout altercation with teammate and National League MVP Bryce Harper. Papelbon apologized to Harper and the organization, and general manager Mike Rizzo expressed no hesitation in bringing him back because of the due diligence the front office did before acquiring the 35-year-old closer at last season’s trade deadline.
“We talked to his teammates in Boston and in Philly, and players who knew him around the league and found no teammate that has a bad thing to say about him,” Rizzo said.
Papelbon the closer is undeniable, converting on 24 of 26 save opportunities last season and 349 of 395 throughout his major league career, which includes a World Series title with the Boston Red Sox. Papelbon the teammate is a more complicated character – a mix of intense competitiveness, light-hearted ribbing, loud country music and a Southern twang.