PHILADELPHIA — Jean Segura was 18 years old when he broke his left leg. It happened in the middle of his 11th rookie-ball game in the United States, and he was too young to know what awaited him. “As soon as that happened to me,” Segura said earlier this season, “the first thing I said was, ‘Tell my mom my career is going to be over.’” He made it to the majors in 2012. He was an All-Star in 2013.
Advertisement
But, for the next decade, Segura developed a reputation across the league. He was traded four times. He could hit, but he was expendable. He always played on middling teams. He pouted when things went wrong. Sometimes, he fought his teammates.
He carried a label that is almost impossible to shake in this sport. He was not a “winning player.”
And there he was, flexing for his teammates after a diving stop ended the seventh inning of a high-stakes Phillies win in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night. He had committed an error that led to a run, then smacked another unhittable pitch to score two runs that put the Phillies ahead for good. He did it all — good and bad — and he held back nothing.
Welcome to the #Postseason pic.twitter.com/zwP9dXuhtI
— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 22, 2022
“The leg up. Fist pump,” backup catcher Garrett Stubbs said. “Nobody does it better.”
“When he flexed after making that play, that was incredible,” J.T. Realmuto said. “I almost started flexing with him.”
Alec Bohm watched a replay of Segura’s seventh-inning celebration after the 4-2 win over the Padres. The third baseman grinned.
“I love it,” Bohm said. “I love it because so many people before thought he was a lazy player. But he couldn’t be more the opposite.”
The Phillies are two wins from the World Series. Before Game 3, someone mentioned to Rhys Hoskins that Zack Wheeler described this whole thing as a blur.
“Definitely a blur,” Hoskins said. “It all happens fast. As soon as the game’s over, it’s on to the next. … A lot of stuff goes on off the field before the games and postgame. But that’s what makes it special, I think. It’s definitely different than the 162 in the regular season.
“This is why we play. This is what we dream of as competitors and as athletes.”
There are moments, Hoskins said, when he tries to soak in all of the feelings. He’ll peek at the stands. He’ll listen to the chants. He will watch the towels wave.
Advertisement
“But I think we also have the blinders on, right?” Hoskins said. “And that’s something that I think helps us keep focused and always trying to stay ready for the next thing that’s coming.”
The moment. No one knew how many of these Phillies would rise to it because they had never tasted it. Segura embodied this. No active MLB player had played more games than Segura (1,328) without appearing in the postseason. Segura would often remind his teammates of his postseason drought. “If we had a good stretch going or something like that,” Wheeler said, “he would always say, ‘Man. Come on, let’s keep it going. I want to reach the postseason.'” Wheeler’s locker is next to Segura’s. They became friends during the season.
“It’s awesome to see,” Wheeler said.
The Phillies had their own spell in the desert, separate from Segura’s. Everyone had their own motivation; they weren’t doing it for Segura. But when Segura accelerated his return from a broken finger to come off the injured list in early August, teammates saw the veteran infielder reach a different level.
He is a flawed player who displayed it all in Game 3 — from coming through for a clutch hit to moments later getting picked off first base. Segura is the Phillies — confusing and promising all at once, and somehow successful at the biggest times.
“He’s enjoying and soaking up every second of this because he’s waited so long,” Hoskins said. “He’s competed for so long. He worked his tail off for 15 straight offseasons. So, no. I’m not surprised at all. How many big hits have we seen him get?”
From the dugout, hitting coach Kevin Long hoped for a specific pitch. Maybe it was a bit of a joke. No one wants a slider that almost grazes the dirt.
But this is Segura.
“We were saying,” Long said, “‘Throw him the slider that’s chase, down and away.’ Sure enough, he did the same exact thing. If anybody can do it, he’s got bat-to-ball skills. He can do it.”
Advertisement
Segura has two memorable hits in this postseason — the two-run single that ignited this improbable Phillies run in the ninth inning of their first postseason game during the Wild Card Series in St. Louis, and his fourth-inning single Friday night.
They both came on almost the same pitch — a pitch that few hitters even can make contact with.
“I don’t really know how I hit it,” Segura said.
“I’ve seen him hit a ball that bounced,” Hoskins said, “so anything that he’s able to get the barrel on, I’m not too surprised.”
“Same pitch,” Long said. “Exact same pitch.”
A half-inning earlier Friday, Segura dropped a routine flip from shortstop Bryson Stott and was charged with an error. “That’s a play that I probably made 3,000 times in my life,” Segura said, “but for some reason I missed it.” The Phillies converged around starter Ranger Suárez at the mound for a meeting after the mistake.
“Ranger,” Segura said, “give me another one.”
Instead, Segura stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fourth with runners on second and third base and two outs.
“He’s an emotional guy,” manager Rob Thomson said, “and he really wants to win.”
“(That’s) the way I handle pressure since I was a little kid,” Segura said. “I love it.”
Until this month, he only had his word. There was no proof from his 11 seasons in the big leagues. Now Segura is on the biggest stage for everyone to see what he is and what he is not. It’s far from perfect. That’s the Phillies; in Game 4 on Saturday, they will start a lefty who has not thrown a pitch in 17 days. They are two wins from flying a flag forever at Citizens Bank Park. The whole thing is ridiculous.
They are embracing it. They could not resist celebrating with Segura — fist pump, leg raised, flex.
“I’m screaming too,” Bohm said. “It was great. I love it. I love it for Jean because a few years ago, you heard things about how he might not have been a good teammate and all that stuff. He’s been awesome to us.”
(Top photo: Matt Rourke / Associated Press)
