Jean Carlos Enrique Segura ( ; born March 17, 1990), nicknamed El Mambo, is a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and second baseman for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB). He has played in MLB for the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

. Segura was an All-Star in 2013 and 2018, and led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

in 2016. He played for the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 201 ...

at the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. Segura signed with the Angels as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2007. He made his MLB debut with the Angels in 2012 and was traded to the Brewers as part of a package for

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and has also played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los A ...

. He played for Milwaukee through 2015, when he was traded to the Diamondbacks. Arizona traded him to Seattle after the 2016 season, and he signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Mariners in 2017. After the 2018 season, Seattle traded Segura to Philadelphia.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Segura was born in San Juan,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. He signed with the

as an international

in 2007. He made his professional debut with the

Dominican Summer Angels The Dominican Summer Angels are a minor league baseball team in the Dominican Summer League. The team plays in the Boca Chica North division and is affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. History The team came into existence in 1989, and has most ...

of the Rookie-level

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only ...

in 2007. Segura batted .324/.392/.393 with 22 stolen bases and seven sacrifice hits (seventh in the league) in 219 at-bats, and was named a DSL postseason All-Star. He played 11 games for the Arizona Angels of the Rookie-level

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it ...

in 2008, and fractured his left leg. In 2009 Segura played for the

Orem Owlz The Orem Owlz were a Minor League Baseball team located in Orem, Utah, United States, from 2001 to 2020. The team competed in the Pioneer League as a Rookie League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The Owlz played their home games at Home o ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and also played in five games for the

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark op ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

, batting .354/.395/.514 with 11 stolen bases in 181 at bats between the two teams. His season was limited by a broken finger on his right hand. He had a 22-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pla ...

with the Owlz, one short of the franchise record, and while playing for them was tied for 8th in the Pioneer League in triples (4), and 8th in batting average (.346). In 2010, Segura played for the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganiza ...

, where he had a standout year, as he was the May 24 Midwest League Player of the Week and stole 50 bases (leading the league) with 161 hits (also leading the league) and hit 12 triples (2nd in the league), 10

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s and 24 doubles, while recording 11 sacrifice hits (3rd), 89 runs (4th), 79

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs) (7th), and batting .313 (10th). He was named a Midwest League mid-season All-Star, and an MiLB.com Angels Organization All-Star. He was promoted to the

Inland Empire 66ers The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, California, and play at San Manuel Stadium. Franchi ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League in 2011, but missed a significant portion of the season after suffering a torn left

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrup ...

and only played in 44 games for the team, batting .281/.337/.422 with 18 stolen bases in 185 at-bats. Segura was added to the Angels

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

on November 18, 2011. He played for the

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League. History The team succeed ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 2012. After batting .287 with 25 stolen bases in his first 69

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

of the season, he was named to appear in the 2012

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National Le ...

. For the season in AA, he batted .304/.358/.413 with 37 stolen bases in 404 at-bats. He was 4th in the Texas League in stolen bases (33), tied for 8th in sacrifice hits (6), and 9th in triples (5). He was named a mid-season Texas League All-Star, and was again named an MiLB.com Angels Organization All-Star. On July 24, 2012, he made his MLB debut at shortstop.

Milwaukee Brewers

After playing in only one game for the Angels, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers along with

John Hellweg John David Hellweg (born October 29, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseba ...

and Ariel Peña for

on July 27, 2012. The Brewers assigned him to the

Huntsville Stars The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1985 to 2014. They competed in the Southern League as the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics from 1985 to 1998 and Mil ...

of the Class AA Southern League and promoted him on August 6 after he batted 13-for-30 in eight games with the club. He batted .264/.321/.331 with seven stolen bases and 14 RBIs in 148 at-bats with the Brewers. Jean Segura on April 1, 2013

In the offseason, Segura played in the

Dominican Winter League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Domi ...

, and won the league's batting title with a .324 batting average, as he was also 2nd in the league with 11 stolen bases. He was named the Brewers'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

shortstop in 2013. He was a National League reserve for the

2013 MLB All-Star Game The 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 84th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It was held on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at Citi Field in Queens, New York City, the home of the New York Mets. This was the first time tha ...

. He won the Player of the Week Award on May 12 and finished the year hitting .294/.329/.423 with 10 triples and 44 stolen bases (each 2nd in the NL), 12 home runs, an 18.9 power–speed number (9th in the league), and 7.0 at bats per strikeout (10th-lowest) in 588 at-bats. At the same time, his walk percentage of 4.0% was tied for the 6th-lowest in major league baseball. In 2014 he batted .246/.289/.326 with 7.3 at-bats per strikeout (7th-lowest), and 10 sacrifice hits (10th in the league) in 513 at-bats. On defense. Segura led all NL fielders with 447 assists. In 2015 Segura batted .257/.281/.336 with 25 stolen bases (5th in the NL), and an 80.65% stolen base percentage (10th) in 560 at-bats. He walked in 2.2% of his at-bats, the lowest percentage in the major leagues, and had the lowest walks-per-strikeout ratio in the majors (0.14).

"Stealing first base"

In the eighth inning of a game on April 19, 2013, Segura stole second base, and then "stole" first base, then was thrown out trying to again steal second base. After Segura singled and stole second, and Ryan Braun walked, Segura and Braun attempted a

double steal In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe ...

. However, Segura retreated to second after the

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

Shawn Camp threw to

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

instead of pitching. With both Segura and Braun standing on second base, both were tagged, and by baseball's rules, it was Braun who was out. However, Segura thought that he himself was out and began to head back to the Brewers' dugout (which happened to be on the first-base side of the field), until

first base coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

Garth Iorg instructed Segura to stand on first base, where he was ruled safe. Two pitches later, Segura was

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

second base. The play resulted in much confusion regarding whether Segura should have been allowed to retreat to first base after he had legitimately occupied second base. The umpires allowed it under a rule that specifies only that a player may not retreat if the intent is to "confuse the defense or make a travesty of the game," as Segura was doing no such thing but was simply confused. MLB later declared that the ruling on the field was wrong, as a rule forbidding a player from reaching a base after "abandoning the effort" at baserunning should have superseded the rule invoked when calling him safe, and that Segura should have been called out at first base. Because the usual methods of reporting baseball play-by-play do not allow for a runner on second to retreat to first base, some records of the game indicate that Segura remained on second and was thrown out trying to steal third base, though this is not what occurred.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On January 30, 2016, the Brewers traded Segura and Tyler Wagner to the

in exchange for Aaron Hill, Chase Anderson, Isan Diaz, and cash considerations. In 153 games in 2016, most of which he played at second base--for the first time in the majors--Segura batted .319 batting average (5th in the National League)/.368 (a career best)/.499, with an NL-leading 203 hits, 135 singles (2nd), a 24.9 power-speed # (4th), 41 doubles and 33 stolen bases (each, 5th), 102 runs (7th), 7 triples (8th), and 20 home runs, while on defense leading all NL players in assists with 428. He came in 13th in the voting for

NL MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

Seattle Mariners

On November 23, 2016, the Diamondbacks traded Segura, Zac Curtis, and

Mitch Haniger Mitchell Evan Haniger (born December 23, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners. A coll ...

to the

for

Taijuan Walker Taijuan Emmanuel Walker (born August 13, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue ...

and

Ketel Marte Ketel Ricardo Marte Valdez (born October 12, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball second baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Seattle Mariners. Marte made his MLB debut with the ...

. In June 2017, Segura signed a five-year contract extension with Seattle worth $70 million. The contract covers the years 2018 to 2022, and has a $17 million option for 2023, with a $1 million

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyo ...

. He returned to shortstop and ended the season batting .300/.349/.427 with 22 stolen bases in 125 games. In 2018, while batting .329 mid-season, he was named to the

2018 MLB All-Star Game The 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 89th Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The game was hosted by the Washington Nationals and was played at Nationals Park on July 17, 2018. It was televised nationally by Fox. The American ...

, in which he hit a go-ahead 3-run home run off of Josh Hader in the 8th inning. For the season Segura batted .304 (7th in the AL)/.341/.415, with 136 singles (leading the majors), 178 hits (6th), and 20 stolen bases while striking out once every 8.5 at-bats (5th-fewest), as on defense he was 3rd in the AL in assists with 387. He had the 4th-lowest whiff rate (12.6%; missing on just 136 of his 1,080 swings) among all qualified hitters, and the 9th-best contact rate (48.8%; 527 of his 1,080 swings were put in play), and led all major league batters in 3-hit games (20) and tied for first in infield hits (36). He became one of only four MLB batters with a .300 or better batting average over the last three years, along with

José Altuve José Carlos Altuve (; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Astros signed Altuve as an amateur free agent in 2007, and he made his major league debu ...

Freddie Freeman Frederick Charles Freeman (born September 12, 1989) is an American-Canadian professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, Freeman played for the Atlanta Braves for 12 seasons. He mad ...

, and

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is a ten-time MLB All-Star, three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) ...

. He and Starling Marté were the only two MLB players to have stolen 20 or more bases each season since 2013. Over his two seasons with the Mariners he batted a combined .302/.345/.421 as Seattle’s shortstop. Among regulars at shortstop in those two years, his 112 OPS+ ranked 4th behind Francisco Lindor,

Xander Bogaerts Xander Jan Bogaerts (born October 1, 1992; ), nicknamed "the X-Man" and "Bogey" or "Bogie", is an Aruban professional baseball shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston ...

, and

Didi Gregorius Mariekson Julius "Didi" Gregorius (born February 18, 1990) is a Dutch professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees and Philadel ...

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 3, 2018, the Mariners traded Segura, Juan Nicasio, and James Pazos to the

for

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

and J. P. Crawford. Segura waived the

no-trade clause In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, ...

in his contract to allow the trade to take place. In 2019, Segura batted .280/.323/.420 with 79 runs, 37 doubles (8th in the National League), 12 home runs, 60 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in 576 at-bats. He made contact with the highest percentage of pitches he swung at in the strike zone (94.3%) of all NL batters. He had 7.9 strikeouts-per-at-bat, second-best in the National League, and on defense, his 20 errors were tops in the league and his 83 double plays were fourth-most among NL shortstops. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Segura batted .266/.347/.422 with 7 home runs and 25 RBIs in 54 games. In 2021, Segura batted .290/.348/.436 with 14 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 9 stolen bases in 131 games. He led all NL second basemen with 85 double plays and a 4.66 range factor. In 2022 he batted .277/.336/.387 in 354 at-bats, with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs. He stole 13 bases and was sixth in the NL in caught stealing (6), and ninth in double plays grounded into (16). On November 7, 2022, the Phillies declined Segura's $17 million club option, making him a free agent for the first time in his career.

Miami Marlins

On January 4, 2022, Segura signed a two-year, $17 million contract with the

Personal life

Segura is married to wife Kellen with two sons. He had a son from a previous relationship who died in 2014 aged nine months, which nearly caused Segura to quit baseball.

References

External links

Jean Segura
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Segura, Jean 1990 births Living people American League All-Stars Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Angels players Arkansas Travelers players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer Angels players Dominican Summer League Angels players Gigantes del Cibao players Huntsville Stars players Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Milwaukee Brewers players National League All-Stars Orem Owlz players People from San Juan Province (Dominican Republic) Philadelphia Phillies players Salt Lake Bees players Scottsdale Scorpions players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players World Baseball Classic players of the Dominican Republic 2017 World Baseball Classic players