August 02, 2023
A Phillies fan favorite and one of the many heroes from last season's miraculous postseason run is about to be back on the market.
Veteran infielder Jean Segura, just before he was set to take on the Phils as a member of the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, was pulled from the lineup and dealt to the Cleveland Guardians ahead of the 6 p.m. ET trade deadline as part of a deal for first baseman Josh Bell.
The Guardians are set to release Segura prior to him reporting to the club, which will free him up to latch on with another team the rest of the way.
The Phillies acquired Segura from Seattle ahead of the 2019 season and for several years he was their best contact hitter amongst a lineup full of power-hitting stars.
In 2022, on the way to the Phillies' first postseason appearance in 11 years and the first ever of his entire career, that reached new heights.
If the Phillies needed a clutch hit, somehow, someway, Segura would reach out of the zone on pitches only Vlad Guerrero Sr. would make contact with and find it. And in the field, he was a reliably solid glove, where even in if there was a defensive blunder, an even bigger play was soon to follow to make up for it.
Look no further than that now iconic "roller coast night" in the NLCS.
That moment was one of the many big ones that helped boost the Phils into the World Series, though it all happened with Segura in the last year of his contract and the writing on the wall for a long time that Bryson Stott would take over for him at second base after to clear the way for a massive contract for star shortstop Trea Turner in the offseason.
The Phillies moved on and Segura signed a two-year, $17 million deal with Miami over the winter, but that ended up not working out. The Marlins had him make an unsuccessful transition to third base and his offensive production dipped to career lows of .217/.277/.279.
The Marlins are gunning for a Wild Card spot and so are the Phillies, but with the 33-year old Segura soon to be available again, the chances of a reunion in South Philadelphia for another playoff run seem slim.
The Phils' depth chart is mostly locked in at this point, so if Segura were to come back, it'd be to a heavily reduced role. But man would it have the chance to be a shot in the arm for a clubhouse and fan base that loved him.
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