Jayson Werth hates the Phillies. Do we need any more reason than that to love him?
According to the Washington Post, Werth declared his new loyalty during a conversation with Nationals GM Mike Rizzo.
"I hate the [expletive] Phillies,” Rizzo said in an exchange with the outfielder poached from Philadelphia.
"I hate the Phillies, too," replied Werth.
With that statement comes the expectation that the Nationals might be adding a bit more personality to a team that many have accused of being boring.
His new teammates seem to agree.
"Werth is the kind of player we need. We're not going to beat people by playing nice," said Nats closer Drew Storen. "To turn this thing around, we need the intangibles and some guys who have that fire."
Storen should know better than most. In his rookie year, he was handed a blown lead when Werth took one of his pitches long for a walk-off home run. Storen returned the favor last Wednesday when he buzzed him with a brushback pitch in their first spring training faceoff.
The two joked about it afterwards and it seems that Werth, and his impressive beard, have been welcomed to the team.
