How Jean Segura fits into Miami Marlins’ plans and where the team goes from here

The Miami Marlins’ signing of infielder Jean Segura is a needed first step if the team plans to be competitive in an ever-challenging National League East that has seen the division’s top three teams make massive strides this offseason.

Segura and the Marlins are in agreement on a two-year, $17 million deal with an option for the 2025 season, a source confirmed to the Miami Herald on Wednesday. The deal is pending a physical.

How exactly does the infielder, who turns 33 in March, fit in to the Marlins’ plans and needs? Let’s take a look.

Where he’ll play

Segura has primarily played in the middle infield during his career, with 1,279 of his 1,301 career starts through 11 big-league seasons coming at shortstop (893) or second base (386). He served as the Philadelphia Phillies’ primary second baseman the past two seasons and split time between second base and third base for the Phillies in 2020.

But considering the Marlins have Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Miguel Rojas in their middle infield, the bulk of Segura’s playing time right now appears to be at third base. Joey Wendle, a left-handed hitter, was Miami’s primary internal candidate to play at the hot corner before Segura’s signing. With Segura on board, the two can platoon or the Marlins could utilize Wendle in more of a utility role.

Segura’s presence also bolsters Miami’s infield depth, which was tested heavily by injuries last season. The Marlins now have five starter-quality options for their three non-first base infield spots along with Wendle, Chisholm, Jon Berti and Rojas, who was a finalist last season for the National League Gold Glove Award at shortstop.

Chisholm only played in 60 games in 2022 before being sidelined for the year by a stress fracture in his lower back — and he played those 60 games with a torn meniscus that he sustained during spring training.

Wendle and Brian Anderson, Miami’s main third basemen in 2022, each had three injured list stints last season. Wendle, who started games at second base, third base and shortstop, missed time due to various hamstring injuries and played in 101 total games. Anderson, who the team non-tendered this offseason, missed time for a positive COVID-19 test, back spasms and a left shoulder sprain and played in just 98 games split between third base and the outfield.

Both Wendle and Anderson simultaneously missed almost all of June, which forced the Marlins to play superutility player Berti at third base on a near daily basis. Prospects Charles Leblanc and Jordan Groshans also received extensive playing time down the stretch of the season, with Leblanc playing second and third (and spot starts at first base) while Groshans solely played third base.

Steady contact hitter

Segura’s strength at the plate is his bat-to-ball skills and knack for making contact. In addition to having a career .285 batting average and .330 on-base percentage, Segura has a career strikeout percentage of just 13.8 percent and only struck out more than 20 percent of the time in a single season once — the pandemic-shortened 2020 season when he struck out in 20.7 percent of his plate appearances.

Additionally, according to Statcast:

▪ Segura’s 16.3 percent swing-and-miss rate since 2015 (when Statcast first began tracking data) is well below league average (24.7 percent).

▪ Segura has near league-average exit velocity for his career, although his single-season hard-hit rates (the percentage of balls in play with an average exit velocity over 95 mph) were the highest of his career over the past three years.

▪ He hits to all parts of the field, with 42.5 percent of his balls in play going up the middle, 27.8 percent being pulled and 29.5 percent going to the opposite field.

▪ Segura does chase a lot more pitches outside the strike zone than league average (he has swung at 32.8 percent of pitches outside of the zone) but he also makes contact on those outside pitches a lot more frequently than the rest of the league (71.1 percent compared to a league average of 58.3 percent).

Good against left-handed pitching

The Marlins hit just .208 with a .598 OPS against left-handed pitching last year — both marks by far the worst in MLB.

While one player alone won’t completely remedy the problem, Segura’s penchant for hitting against southpaws should help. While his batting average splits for his career are about equal (.285 against right-handed pitching compared to .284 for lefties), Segura’s power numbers are noticeably higher against left-handed pitching (.438 slugging and .780 OPS when facing lefties compared to .398 and .724 when facing right-handed pitching).

This sets Segura up to be at minimum a viable platoon starter if he doesn’t win a full-time starting job.

What the Marlins still need

While the addition of Segura is a positive, it’s far from the only move Miami needs to make.

The team still needs to identify a backup first baseman. Garrett Cooper is the only natural first baseman on their 40-man roster. They can also upgrade in center field, a move that will most likely require a trade to complete. And they could potentially continue to add to the bullpen, although it looks like they are going to build from within there after adding four relief pitcher prospects to the 40-man roster this offseason in addition to selecting Nic Enright in the Rule 5 Draft and trading with the Tampa Bay Rays for JT Chargois.