Phillies Season in Review: Jean Segura
Entering his third season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Jean Segura has been a staple for the team. He came to Philadelphia primarily as a shortstop, then moved on to play a mix of third base and second base last season, and finally became the team’s full time second baseman in 2021.
Segura started the season hot in April batting .333/.359/.450 through 64 plate appearances with an OPS of .809 before being sidelined with a quad injury that kept him off the field until the beginning of May
The injury did not do much to set him back, as he continued to dominate in the month of May. He hit .310/.370/.464 with five doubles in 85 at bats and looking like one of the most consistent hitters on the team.
Segura was putting up All-Star caliber numbers at the plate in June as well, until he was placed on the 10-day IL with a Grade-1 groin strain that was expected to keep him out for three weeks. He was able to return much earlier than expected and played in the last two games of June. It was another very productive month for Segura as he hit .340/.411/.440 with an .851 OPS. It felt like the guy could not be stopped.
The first three months of Segura’s season were extremely consistent. He did miss some time from injuries, but you could not have asked for more production from his bat. He was one of the hottest hitters on the team in the first half of the season and was seemingly one of the more reliable players.
The second half of the season was a much different story. Segura started to slide in a big way offensively. He batted well over .300 in each of the first three months of the season, but wouldn’t even come close to that mark in July, August, or September. Similarly, none of his second half months showed an OPS over .800, another feat he accomplished in April, May, and June.
July was an interesting month for Segura. He recorded at least one hit in 20 of 25 games, but he saw his season batting average drop from .328 at the start of the month to .305 when it ended. Over that 25 game span he slashed just .269/.330/.413.
Segura put up very similar numbers to July in both August and September. Despite a slightly disappointing second half to the season, he blew the league average out of the water with his production on offense this year.
The league average at the plate was .244/.317/.411 with an OPS of .728. Segura ended his season batting .290/.348/.436 with a .784 OPS. Numbers that far exceed the league average and his team’s average.
On the defensive side of things, Segura played 1,080.1 innings at second base this season making 224 putouts, turning a National League leading 85 double plays, and causing 11 errors. His fielding percentage of .981 this year ended just a hair below the league average of .982 at second base.
Segura is locked in with the Phillies for another two seasons, and will surely be a focal point of the team in 2022. When healthy, he is a great two hole hitter for the Phillies and while he is not a power bat, he can get on base for guys like Harper and Hoskins to hit him home. He’s a low strikeout player that puts the ball in play and makes things happen. He was nowhere near the top of the list of Phillies problems this season, and you can expect him to continue to produce at a solid level in 2022.
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