In the midst of pure craziness for all Nationals' fans, it's fun to take a break and remember a former Washington Nationals' pitcher whose time with the Nationals was brief but surely exciting: Jonathan Papelbon
The Philadelphia Phillies’ all-time saves leader, and former Washington Nationals pitcher Jonathan Papelbon was interviewed by a gambling website Betway to get his thoughts on the 2022 season and some of his former teams. Papelbon didn't hold back when asked about the state of the Phillies, and his former Nationals teammate, Bryce Harper.
The interview provided some interesting tidbits about what life is like in Philadelphia:
“It's always been kind of chaotic in Philadelphia, with the fans, with the players, with the front office. It's like a s**tshow there. And, for me, I see the s**tshow continuing. I mean, they fired their manager, what, two months into the season? As long as that stuff happens, Philadelphia will never win again. Philadelphia will never get back to the playoffs.”
“When they brought in me, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, everybody started getting hurt, and the sh**show began after that, I believe. It's been nothing but downhill for the Phillies since then, and there hasn't been anything even close to resembling a postseason team.”
Then Papelbon turned his attention to Bryce Harper, his teammate for a little more than a season with the Nationals, Papelbon’s final big league stop. We all know that things between Harper and Papelbon were tense, to say the least. Papelbon didn't hold back on his perspective of the former Washington Nationals' outfielder and current Philadelphia Philly:
“I don't necessarily see him being a huge leader of the team, because he was never really a leader when I played with him. He kind of went about his own business and more was a me-guy or an I-guy, and wasn't really into what was happening in the clubhouse, and didn't have that pull for the team.”