Jean Segura has been in baseball for 11 seasons. He’s bounced around five different team, from the L.A. Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers to the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Seattle Mariners and finally, the Phillies, which has been the longest stop of his career.

It’s safe to say he’s seen a lot in the game in his lifetime. Ups and downs and sideways performances that would keep you engrossed and entertained as he told tale of his travels over a few beers one night after his playing days are over.

But it’s safe to assume that he never had a game quite like Game 3 of the 2022 NLCS.

In the span of a few hours, Segura went from hero, to goat, to hero, to goat, to hero two times over. And it’s funny that he had four hero moments compared to two goat moments because the final score of this epic game was Phillies 4, Padres 2.

Not that it was all about Jean, but there’s no doubt that in the latest chapter of this Cinderellla Phillies story being written almost nightly this October, Segura plays the lead character.


Before we break it down, it should be pointed out that Matt Mullin, digital editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, posed an excellent question on Twitter as Segura’s night was unfolding:

Some of the answers were good. Mercurial was a well-thought out one. Tumultuous was a superb response. Chaos was another that rang true.

But there is only one word that can accurately describe Segura’s night:

Baseball.

Because it can only really happen this way, in this game.

“I’m going to… continue enjoying the ride,” Segura said, after his memorable night. “I waited 11 years for the opportunity. I’m not going to go backwards. I’m going to do the best I can to continue to grind it, to continue to help the ball club, and bring something positive every single day. I just waited too many years for the opportunity, and I don’t want to let it go by.”

That’s because Segura doesn’t know what the future holds. The Phillies have a club option on Segura for 2023, if they want to bring him back, but that’s far from certain, and probably a lot closer to unlikely than likely. So, not knowing what’s next for him, especially since he’s 32-years-old now, Segura wants to soak in every moment of this wild Phillies ride.

And man, did he have moments to soak in Friday in Game 3.

Hero Moment #1

I sent out this tweet, just for a few laughs. If I only knew what it would lead to later, I would have restrained myself. But, there’s nothing that can prepare anyone for what happens in October, so I shouldn’t be surprised:

You know, make fun of a Mets Broadcaster while highlighting a good play early in the game, like those same broadcasters do just so they ensure the sponsorship read gets into the broadcast, and share some levity with Phillies Twitter in the third inning of a one-run game.

And it was a nice play by Segura, robbing Trent Grisham of a hit and keeping starting pitcher Ranger Suarez rolling in the first three innings:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1583617227193954304

On the emotional scale, this was about a three for Segura. He makes the play, gives a little nod in acknowledgement to his teammates, who are telling him he made a great play, and then they get right back to it, needing two more outs, which they get.

Nice play. Nice start, Jean.

Goat Moment #1

The very next inning, things went really bad because of Jean.

Suarez had hit Juan Soto with a pitch to lead off the inning. After getting Manny Machado to fly out, Cody Ross Brandon Drury nubbed a base hit past where Segura would normally be standing (he was shifting) off the very end of his bat for a single. According to Statcast, the expected batting average on that ball was .040. Soto made it to third base.

That’s how you knew things were starting t go wrong.

Next up was Jake Cronenworth, and he hit a chopper to shortstop that had a good chance of being an inning-ending double play. Bryson Stott fielded it cleanly, flipped it to Segura and…

and…

Oh, Jean.

It allowed Soto to score and put the Phillies in danger of falling behind. However, Suarez got the next two hitters, and the inning ended in a 1-1 tie. Alas, bad defense, the bane of the Phillies existence for a good portion of this season, allowed a playoff game to be tied instead of the Phillies being ahead.

“I felt really bad when I made that mistake, but I don’t let that bother me,” Segura said. “I keep playing the game the right way. I keep hustling. I keep diving for baseballs. That’s the way you want to handle the mistake, not let it get to your head. Instead of (saying) ‘Coach, I’m here. I’m scared for them to hit it to me. I’m not ready.’ No, let it go by.

“Even when I make a mistake early in the game, it was a lot of things going through my mind. You know, just you know what? It’s another game. Maybe I get an opportunity later in the game to win the game or maybe to do something special tonight. I didn’t let that error affect my next two at-bats.”

Hero Moment #2

In the bottom of the fourth, Bryce Harper led off with a single but was quickly erased by a Nick Castellanos double play. With two outs and no one on, Alec Bohm singled to center and Bryson Stott grinded through an at bat and then doubled to right.

Note: At some point, Stott will need to be recognized for his huge at bats that have come before more memorable hits that ended up winning games for the Phillies. He had the great at bat right before Rhys Hoskins’ big homer against Atlanta, and this at bat against Joe Musgrove was equally as impressive. 

This brought Segura to the plate, and of course he found himself in a pitcher’s count at 1-2 when, as he so often seems to do, he found a way to hit a pitch that 99 percent of ballplayers just can’t, or don’t even try to reach:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1583627235613106183

And if you don’t think Jean recognized the importance of that hit, think again – as he channeled his inner Hoskins with another bat spike.

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1583627802276134912

Sliders down that low and out of the zone are not meant to be hit. At all. Nevermind for a clean single that plates two runs, including the eventual game-winner.

But Segura chalked it up to a game he used to play as a kid in the Dominican Republic.

“I played a lot of vitalla (Beteyah) growing up. I don’t know if you guys ever heard about that. I play a lot of vitalla growing up. I don’t really know how I hit it. I did it and probably you guys see it millions of times.

“Put in play a ball that was almost three or four inches off the plate on the ground. Put it in play and get through those situations. Musgrove is one of those guys that has really good stuff. I think down the stretch you’re going to face a guy that has really good stuff. That’s postseason baseball.”

Beteyah is a game where someone (a pitcher?) throws a plastic cap at a hitter and they use a pole, or a mop handle or a stick of some kind to try and hit the cap, which, because of the cap’s shape, violently changes directions. In Asia it’s known as Huraka. Either way… you see what you are up against…

As exciting as Segura’s hit was, it was immediately followed up by another negative.

Goat Moment #2

The other thing that has frustrated Phillies fans this season besides bad fundamental defense is bad fundamental baserunning.

So, getting picked off first just seconds after getting the big hit in the game to end the inning, probably wasn’t the best thing to do:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1583627508377092096

Fans were more forgiving, because of the hit, but man, that can’t happen in the playoffs.

No fear, Segura had more tricks up his sleeve.

Hero Moment #3

Like in the top of the sixth. After the Padres had back-to-back singles by Ross Drury and Cronenworth, reliever Zach Eflin found himself in a pickle with runners at the corners and one out and Josh Bell coming to the plate as a pinch hitter.

Eflin, though mad a good pitch and Segura and friends took it from there:

It may have seemed routine, but Segura needed to get the ball to Stott in a hurry and did so. If Bell beats the throw back to first, Ross Drury would have scored and tied the game. It was a bigger moment than maybe it was celebrated to be.

But there was one more that was bigger, and better, and let you know the Phillies were not going to lose Game 3.

Hero Moment #4

With a runner on first and two out, the speedy Ha-Seong Kim stepped to the plate. With Juan Soto on deck, it was imperative the Phillies and reliever Jose Alvarado get out of this inning unscathed.

Kim had a nice swing and was a sure bet to get a base hit to right field, except one guy said, no way.

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1583642976642748416?s=20&t=_a2JyNfkTJrCoYvWiW84HQ

The emotion was raw. It was in the moment. It was…. Jean letting out his inner Dragon Ball Z character?

“I mean, I’m fired up. I don’t know how to explain that, but it’s like Goku, the little Goku, like something, like fire inside my body. Like I just want to get it out, like explosive, like ahhhhhh. If you don’t get emotional with 45,000 people in the stands, you’re playing the wrong sport.”

Goku. Really:

https://twitter.com/flyingwalruss/status/1583696339942400000

“Six more wins, Topper.” And performances like Segura’s on Friday help reduce that number each day.