June 8, 2006
The Brothers Papelbon
It seems that 26-year-old wonder rookie Jonathan Papelbon might eventually be competing for mound time against none other than his youger brother, Josh. The Red Sox drafted the 22-year-old Papelbon yesterday in the 48th round of picks. Josh, a student at the University of North Florida with a year of eligibility left, is known for his "submarine style" of pitching à la ex-Sox Mike Myers, now pitching for the Yankees. The Sox plan on using the younger Papelbon as a reliever once he's ready to play with the major league team.
In other Papelbon news, Josh's twin brother, Jeremy, signed with the Chicago Cubs yesterday in the 19th round; he is also a pitcher and a junior at the University of North Florida.
From this Boston Globe Magazine article a few months ago, it seems that the family is close and the brothers are quite competitive. And just how does one family go about producing three MLB-caliber pitchers?
Isn't the resemblance between the two Papelbons a little freaky? And they aren't even the twins...
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Hey, Bostonist, just a quick heads up. The younger Papelbon's style is much closer to ex-Sox reliever Chad Bradford than Myers.
NESN ran a quick interview with the elder Papelbon yesterday concerning his younger brother's style. Jonathan said Josh had the opportunity to come up last season and talk with Bradford while the Sox were in town. His perspective suggests things are progressing very well.