Phillies 2B Jean Segura quietly off to stellar start
By Matt Rappa
Now in his third year with the Philadelphia Phillies, second baseman Jean Segura just might be off to his best season in red pinstripes.
Involved in trade rumors earlier this offseason, the 10-year veteran is putting up numbers that will make the Phillies front office glad that they did not part ways with him.
Jean Segura is among the best hitters on the 2021 Phillies.
Segura is slashing .333/.353/.438 with six runs scored, 13 singles, two doubles, one home run, five RBI, two walks, and just 10 strikeouts spanning 13 games played and 51 plate appearances.
On Opening Day, Segura produced a walk-off, extra-innings RBI single to left field, sparking the team’s eventual 4-0 start to the season. The Dominican Republic native’s 16 overall hits and .333 batting average lead the team. His lone homer in 2021 notably broke up Mets pitcher David Peterson‘s no-hitter in the fifth inning.
He is currently amid a seven-game hitting streak, while logging multiple hits in three of his past four games.
In the field, Segura has been just has valuable — yet to commit an error across 54 chances and 110 1/3 innings at second base.
When the Phillies acquired the two-time All-Star from the Seattle Mariners in December 2018 — along with relievers Juan Nicasio and James Pazos in exchange for top prospect J.P. Crawford and first baseman Carlos Santana — the Phillies hoped he could produce similar numbers over his previous three seasons.
From 2016-18 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners, Segura slashed .308/.353/.449 with 100 doubles, 41 home runs, and 172 RBI across 422 games and nearly 1,900 plate appearances. Entering 2021, Segura hit only .276/.329/.421 with 42 doubles, 19 home runs, and 85 RBI in red pinstripes across 198 games and 835 plate appearances between the 2019-20 seasons.
So far, Segura is back up to hitting .300. If he can keep it up, he will be extremely valuable to maintain the team’s offensive momentum that was seen in Friday’s 9-2 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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