The Nationals announced that Jonathan Papelbon’s season is over effective immediately, as he not only dropped his appeal and will serve his three-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, but Washington has also suspended him for the remaining four games.
Nationals suspend Jonathan Papelbon for rest of 2015 following fight with Bryce Harper
The Nats aren’t letting Papelbon get away with putting his hands on Harper.
This is Papelbon’s punishment for attacking Bryce Harper in the dugout on Sunday. Papelbon went after Harper for what he believed to be failure to run out a popout, but what was more likely Papelbon’s opportunity to try and embarrass Harper after the Nats’ star criticized the decision to intentionally throw at Machado last week.
The Nationals have chosen their side in the matter, with their GM Mike Rizzo stating that Papelbon’s behavior “is not acceptable” and that the Nationals “will not tolerate it in any way.”
There remain questions to be answered, such as what the Nats will do with Papelbon going forward: he’s under contract for 2016, as well, but if there is any residual issue between the closer and Harper, who will presumably be the NL MVP, it’s hard to believe they would keep Papelbon around. That’s a story for the offseason, though, and only if Papelbon fails to learn why putting your hands on a teammate’s neck is not acceptable behavior.
Harper didn’t get away completely clean, as manager Matt Williams announced that he would sit out Monday’s game as punishment for his side of the fight. That seems unfair given the circumstances, but it’s even stranger than that: Harper was scheduled to have Monday off anyway, so Matt Williams made this situation worse than it needed to be, as he didn’t need to say or do anything. That at least seems fitting, given his and the Nationals’ season.
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