Phillies second baseman Jean Segura will need to undergo surgery after fracturing his finger during last night’s loss to the Giants, manager Joe Girardi announced to reporters (including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). The team expects him to be sidelined for 10-12 weeks.
The Phils just placed Segura on the 10-day injured list this afternoon, but it’s a virtual inevitability he’ll head to the 60-day version whenever the club needs a 40-man roster spot. It’s a brutal blow for the Phils, who are off to a disappointing 21-29 start. Philadelphia had another big offseason in an attempt to snap a decade-long playoff drought, but they’re already facing an uphill battle in the standings and will now have to play without a key regular for most of the year.
Segura has started 43 of the Phils’ 50 games this season. The contact-hitting second baseman had been having a solid year, carrying a .275/.324/.407 line through 179 trips to the plate. He has popped six home runs and swiped eight bases, making him one of the team’s more productive all-around position players. He’s in the final guaranteed year of his deal, and the club holds a $17MM option on his services for 2023 with a $1MM buyout.
With Segura out, second base seems likely to fall to a combination of rookie Bryson Stott and utilityman Johan Camargo for the time being. The former is one of the top young players in the Phillies’ system, but he’s struggled to a .123/.179/.151 line through his first 78 MLB plate appearances. Stott has hit very well in the minors and the Phils no doubt anticipate better results at the big league level, but he also only has 19 games of Triple-A experience under his belt.
Camargo has a much larger body of work in the majors. He’s a versatile infield defender with decent contact skills from both sides of the plate, but he’s not offered much in the way of offensive production since a strong 2018 season with the division-rival Braves. Camargo hit .212/.260/.361 in just shy of 400 trips to the plate between 2019-21, and the Braves cut him loose at the end of last season. He signed a one-year deal with Philly over the winter and has a .248/.318/.350 mark in 40 games.
The Phillies also have 25-year-old Nick Maton on the 40-man roster. The left-handed hitter posted a .256/.323/.385 line through his first 131 big league plate appearances last season. He’s yet to play in the majors this year, though he was recalled today from Triple-A Lehigh Valley after starting the season with a .241/.360/.462 line there. Prospect Luis Garcia, who has yet to reach Double-A, is the only other primary infielder on the 40-man roster aside from the presumptive starting group of Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm and Didi Gregorius.
With Segura facing an extended absence, it’s not of the question the Phils look to the trade market for some additional help. It’s rare to see trades of consequence this early in June, but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and his staff could look externally for a more proven solution.
Teams like the Nationals and Reds have virtually no chance of reaching the playoffs this season, and they’ve each got second basemen who are headed for free agency at the end of the year (old friend César Hernández and Brandon Drury, respectively). Seattle’s Adam Frazier could also find himself on the move as an impending free agent, but the M’s aren’t likely to make that kind of deal unless they’re still far out of contention closer to the trade deadline.
2022 just keeps kicking Phillies fans in the nads.
Maybe Utley or Samuel can come out of retirement to play 2B for a few months? Would also love to see them throw the Phanatic out there for a game.
May as well have some fun. Put some kids and mascots out there.
What’s Mickey Morandini up to these days?…
I’d say Nick did a pretty good job last night
Great game by Maton, but no one expects that level of production. He’s a fringe major leaguer at best. He’ll have his shot all year, but for a win-now team, he isn’t the answer. Not that the Phillies are doing very much winning now, but you get my point. They aren’t rebuilding. Perhaps they should be, but they aren’t.
Von;
I like Maton a lot.
When the Mets brought up McNeil I liked him. MLBTR was writing articles at the end of his first half-year that the Mets needed a 2B. I wrote constantly that McNeil was fine.
Maton will never be a superstar; won’t carry a bat to 1B when he hits a HR, or say provocative things to start controversy. He’s a smart player that will be a solid contributor on a winning team….Philly or elsewhere…..and will play for a reasonable salary.
Von;
If Segura gets healthy and shows he has something in 2022, I can see the Padres trading for him at the deadline. They badly need more offense, and 2B is a problem. They’ll need to clear some salary space first.
Nevertheless, It’s only a matter of time before the Phillies start selling.
I think this injury puts the kibosh on any significant return for Segura.
May put a kibosh on a significant return, but if he’s healthy he’s going to the Padres of another contender. maybe they can package him with someone else.
His 2023 salary of $17M might be an issue.
Team option 23′ for Segura . No issues for Philly
I’m fine with that.
So much for trading him for any return. The baseball gods are real…
Just move castellanos to second… problem solved… defense be damned
so why was he bunting there anyways?
Did the article miss the fact he was bunting? I didn’t see it??
Inquiring minds want to know
He got hit in the finger while bunting.
He made two terrible attempts at bunting. Poor mechanics and as a result, was hit on the hand.
Wow, sucks the article missed that, puts a different light on the situation
Aren’t you supposed to put your fingers behind the bat so you don’t get digitally challenged? BB 101
Yeah, it appeared that his fingers were wrapped around the bat instead of behind it. They attributed a lot of it to Rodgers, his technique, his deception, but it looked like it was just bad bunting. I often wonder if they even work on that anymore in batting practices with any consistency before they have guys try it in-game.
My exact thought DarkSide
Unless they start making a push, they are not trading for a 2B.
Of course they are not trading for a second baseman… they are trading for Nelson Cruz and will have him play CF
I would consider buying a ticket to see Schwarber, Cruz and Castellanos manning the outfield. That would be entertaining.
They are definitely trading for a 2B. They need one to just finish the year.
Maton can take over second. It’s not like they are winning anything. They should not give up any assets whatsoever this season.
Probably trade for Contreras and have relamuto play second.
Brandon Drury is available
No worries. The Phillies weren’t going to win it this year anyway so no big loss.
Look forward to a 2023 Phillies-Orioles tilt for the title in October.
Huge loss. Segura was one of the few tradable assets. Not a high return, but a something.
Bingo
Great googly moogly
Another 2 1/2 men fan.
Berta was funny, but tough to look at
How terrible would it be to give Luis Garcia a look. Destroy his confidence forever? He can’t be worse than Stott/Maton/Moniak and so on.
Garcia just ain’t good.
Never feel bad for a Phillies fan.
Lemme guess: you’re a scumbag Mets fan.
Call up Mark Appel!!!
So they can rush and ruin another young player ?
He’s 30…
He’s 31. Not young.
He’s young for an oak tree.
Feel bad for the guy. He’s a player. Watch alot of NL EAST. Phillies put together a rotisserie team. He’s one of the few non feast or famine guys
Born n raised in Philly, have lived all over the country, still listen to Philly sports talk radio on 97.5.
This afternoon, a caller raises the point that is looks like Dombrowski is the Conductor of a train on fire carrying a load of dumpsters on fire……After envisioning that…..my man was right….Never gonna give up on them as stated many times here…..
…….but must admit, that would make an AMAZING movie poster….
cpdpoet;
Dombrowski is playing the cards he was dealt when he was hired. A bad starting staff (other than Nola) and a worse bullpen. Few good young cheap players, little in the farm system. Bad defense. Harper, Segura, Hoskins, and not much else.
He could spend money on FA’s. He did that. Phillies are over the pseudo-cap. He has to get younger. The way to do that is to flip some of his veterans for a package of youngsters I believe that was always the plan.
The sad part of it all is the Phillies starters (outside of Suarez) are having a very good year. This is the best starting pitching they got in years, but everything else sucks.
Von;
Here’s what I see wins for teams……
Balance and depth.
I grew up watching an awful team that wasn’t in a pennant race for 30 years (long after I left the area). There wasn’t a year where a portion of the team looked good and it seemed like if they could just plug a couple of holes that within a few years they would “surprise a lot of people”. Never happened.
Dombrowski’s only had a few years to work on the farm system. The fruits of that labor will not be seen for at least 2 more years. The question I have is how long does Harper wait? It’s his 4th year – he’s 29 years-old – and realistic contention is not in the picture.
I thought they could win the NLE in 2022. But said they wouldn’t get past the 1st round of the playoffs. I expected something like this in 2023. Didn’t see the Mets being this good, but knew the Phillies would fall back.
I’ve lost some respect for Girardi. The game in which he left Alvarado in with a 7-8 run lead was it for me. I knew if the Mets came back it would break the Phillies. They HAD to win that game to set a tone. Unfortunately, it was the Mets that set the tone (I have no idea why they keep Alvarado – I can only imagine the amount of manhours the coaching staff has spent with him. I know he has great stuff, but they haven’t been able to get him to throw it over the plate very often. You want to work with a guy like that you give him mop-up duty. You don’t put him in games that matter, and leave him in when it’s obvious he’s not pitching well.)
I stopped watching the Phillies games after that Mets game.
Dombrowski has never been a capable farm system architect outside of very early in his career. He’s been quite adept at trading them away since his Tigers days though.
Nonsense……
He was known for building the Expos farm system, then built the Marlin’s that won a championship, and took over nothing in Detroit where he built the farm system and a team that contended for years.
How long have you been following MLB?
DD is a dinosaur but Samuel doesn’t realize or accept that.
DD inked Castellanos and Schwarber instead of putting that cash elsewhere. The farm is garbage and they’ve been awful at producing from it but certainly has not made astute moves.
Jbigz12: There is *a* way for the Phillies to revamp there farm, but that obviously comes at a cost, and an ugly one. They have to rebuild. It’s a sell-off of starting with Harper, reassess the farm, re-engage & repeat (if needed).
It’s tricky, because Harper’s no-trade clause. So, that eliminates several teams, if he would even be open to it. But I suspect if they begin talking rebuild he *may* agree to go to a contender.
Anyway, I’m not suggesting it’s a great plan. Hell, I’m not suggesting it’ll even be possible. But, it seems like the only viable solution to explore if they want to begin fixing their team from the ground up.
The Phillies have nobody to “flip” and get younger-
Familiarize yourself with the roster Sammy
Its Wheeler and Bryce that’s going nowhere
Cast and KS freshly signed who are not going to fetch value
And Jt “same as above”
Everyone else is team option/arb
Philles problem has been, for a long long time, not developing homegrown players. They simply just gotta get better in that department
They’ve spent money pretty well overall for free agency, that’s nowhere near the problem
jbigz12 I actually understand those moves. If Schwarber hit like he did last year, the Phillies would be in the wildcard hunt.
Nah. They aren’t trading Harper. Plus his value took a hit with his injury. He’d veto most trades anyway. He said he wanted to find a home for his family. One city to retire in. He made his choice. He’s in Philly until retirement IMO. Even if the Phillies wanted to trade him, I don’t think he’d want to go.
Von;
I believe at some point Harper requests a trade unless things change – and I have doubts they will.
Yes, family in one place is important. But playing for a franchise that cannot make the playoffs when 20% of teams do, is not how a premier player wants to spend his career. His family can settle in another city.
Samuel:
Girardi is the one playing the cards he was dealt.
Dombrowski has done nothing but damage to the Phillies. Signed Realmuto to a bad 5 year 25 million a year contract that is already starting to haunt the Phillies and will continue to do so even more in the future. Signed Gregorious to a 2 year contract last year, then didn’t have any clue whatsoever as to what to do with him this year. Has ‘fixed’ the bullpen with the likes of Alvarado, Coonrod, Kennedy, Familia, Bellatti, Norwood, and Nelson. Couldn’t find a center fielder. Signed 2 DHs this year, neither of who can field. What can we look forward to from him? Trade Abel and Painter away at the trade deadline for some more washed up rentals or other dead wood?
this is why you don’t try and bunt against a submariner
Since nothing at all is working this year:
move Realmulto to 1B, trade Hoskins and Gregorius for young any kind of young talent or
relievers, let Stott and Maton play and listen to any offers on veteran players who suck at D. This team needs an infusion in speed,D and youth.
I forgot , call up O’Hoppe to play catcher
Realmuto to first? Seriously?? A 25 million a year first baseman with around a .250 batting average with less than 20 home runs? Just super. Keep Hoskins.
Realmulto has declined as a catcher, Hoskins is batting barely above the Mendoza line and is a horrific fielder.
See what catching poor teams such as the Yankees will offer for JT.
For 25 million a year, a first baseman should put up similar numbers to a Freddie Freeman or a Matt Olson. Does anyone think Realmuto can do anything anywhere near that? Not happening. And what makes anyone think he would be so much better fielding at 1st than Hoskins??
A statue can play better defense than Hoskins. Realmulto also has a much better arm.
Realmuto played 1st this year, it wasn’t pretty. Hoskins is one of the worst 1B I’ve seen, but unfortunately Realmuto and Bohm are two of the others.
I just don’t understand this infactuation is with so many people for Realmuto. Unfortunately, the Phillies are stuck with him. No team is going to trade for a declining injury prone 30 something year old catcher with a bad 25 million a year contract that has 3 more years left. Even the Yankees wouldn’t be dumb enough to offer anything more than a low level prospect to take on that contract. What a huge major improvement his .250 batting average would be over Hoskin’s, with half the home runs (if lucky) and no big improvement defensively. Dombrowski really stuck it to the Phillies with this signing. The idea that he would be so valuable as a 1st baseman or DH for that 25 million a year just boggles the mind. Bring Tommy Joseph back. Would probably get better production for millions less….
Realmuto never really matched what we saw in his first year as a Philly or all those years on the Marlins. He’s declined big time. No one likes to talk about it because he’s so respected in the game, but he’s been bad this year defensively as well.
At least they’re solid defensively everywhere else. In all seriousness, LC should give a call and offer up Whit Merrifield. Royals are going nowhere and he could fill in at 2B for now and be a corner OF later.
Sorry – first sentence should have been marked with a *sarcasm alert*
I guess they have to make a roster move to call up Kingery. 2nd base was supposedly his natural position.
He’s currently batting .186 in AAA
Currently batting .186 in AAA
Kingery’s ship has sunk. Better to release him and groom some prospects who have a chance to contribute in a couple of years.
Stop the presses! The Phillies actually won a game !
I have a solution for the Phillies and his name is Paul DeJong. All that is needed is for his services is 500K and a used puck bag.