PHILADELPHIA — Jonathan Papelbon caused a bit of a stir when the Philadelphia Phillies closer was quoted in the Boston Globe saying that he doesn’t “really feel much like a Phillie.”
The clamor apparently stopped somewhere short of the manager’s door.
“I didn’t read any of that or hear any of that,” Phillies skipper Ryne Sandberg said before Thursday’s 6-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
Papelbon spent his first seven seasons in Boston, making four All-Star teams. Signed by the Phillies as a free agent in November 2011, he saved 107 games in three-plus seasons. That includes Wednesday’s 4-2 victory over the Red Sox, in which he went 1 1/3 innings.
“He’s been all on board with what’s happening here,” Sandberg said. “He’s been a guy that leads the bullpen. He was very good in spring training, as far as being a leader and leading in the drills, so that’s what I base everything on with Pap, and his ability to get three outs at the end of the game. Or four.”
Pressed further on the matter, Sandberg said, “I don’t what you’re talking about. … I don’t read the Boston Globe, so I don’t know what was said. All I know is, he’s been a good influence here. He’s done everything asked of him and he’s one of the veteran guys that’s on board with help leading the young players, and that he’s doing his part in that.”