Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Jean Segura could just be having fun out on the baseball diamond, but during Thursday’s series finale against the division-rival Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, he nearly made an all-time embarrassing play.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Phillies starting pitcher Zach Eflin surrendered a single to center field opposite Nationals slugger Juan Soto. Realizing that he could not field the ball, Segura attempted to throw his glove at the grounder to prevent it from entering the outfield.
Had contact been made between Segura’s glove and the ball, Soto would have advanced from first to third base per Major League Baseball rules. Silly plays and/or attempts like this just should not happen at the big-league level, or any level for that matter.
Phillies 2B Jean Segura is putting up decent stats, but he needs to be smarter.
Segura has not hid his personality this season. It is more acceptable for him to do that when he is slashing an impressive .333/.352/.448 this season — with 23 singles, four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, three walks, and just 12 strikeouts through 23 games and 91 plate appearances
When Segura hit his 200th career double against the Gabe Kapler-led San Francisco Giants last month, he awkwardly enticed the onlooking Citizens Bank Park crowd to give him a standing ovation.
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The 10-year veteran could be off to a career year. When he logged a National League-best 203 hits across 153 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2016, he had 36 hits through 108 plate appearances across his first 23 games. This season, Segura has 29 hits overall through as many games and 17 fewer plate appearances.
The Phillies lost 5-1 to the Nationals, and were already bound for a loss — down 4-1 at the time of when Segura tried to use his glove to prevent the ball from traveling into the outfield. Still, silly plays like this cannot happen.
Segura and his teammates need to be more serious, as they try to gain ground in the standings and ultimately clinch the first Phillies postseason berth in a decade.