ANALYSIS/OPINION:
However mad Jonathan Papelbon may appear to have been since he joined the Washington Nationals, there has been a method to it.
However insane he was to provoke a dugout brawl with Bryce Harper, and however foolish he was to plunk Manny Machado last week in the series against the Baltimore Orioles, he was trying to accomplish something.
When he arrived in the Nationals' clubhouse at the end of July following the trade from the Philadelphia Phillies, Papelbon looked around and saw the same thing that San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Hudson saw before the National League Division Series last fall.