Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer pregame handshake looks eerily familiar

If the Washington Nationals are still impacted by the whole Bryce Harper/Jonathan Papelbon choking incident, they aren’t showing it. Prior to Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, Harper and pitcher Max Scherzer took part in a pregame handshake routine. The final part of that routine looked eerily similar to Harper’s recent run-in with Papelbon.

Yep, that last part certainly looks like Scherzer is fake choking Harper. That’s definitely odd considering Papelbon put his hand around Harper’s neck during their scuffle in the dugout.

Before you start thinking that this was a shot at Papelbon, or the two attempting to make fun of that situation, apparently that’s not the case. Harper and Scherzer have gone through the same ritual throughout most of the season, and one of their handshakes ended in a fake choke in early September, according to MLB.com’s Cut Four. That was obviously before the now infamous dugout brouhaha, which is both weird and prescient. 

The whole thing has us questioning Papelbon’s role in the actual fight. Maybe he didn’t mean to harm Harper, maybe he just wanted to get in on the Scherzer/Harper handshake fun? On second thought, probably not.

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The fact that Scherzer and Harper left that part in the handshake likely means the club isn’t taking that whole Papelbon issue too seriously. If there was still some unease in the clubhouse, maybe we wouldn’t see Scherzer fake choking Harper prior to the game.

That’s a good thing. Papelbon is gone now, and it does the team no good to focus on the past. It’s a lost season for Washington, but at least they proved they can still have a little fun. Even if there’s an aspect that it might be too soon to do so.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik