Hey there, today is Wednesday, May
29th. This could potentially be my last blog until Saturday, because
I have prom tomorrow, then post prom the next two days. I’ll probably be fine
for tomorrow, but I’m still trying to find time for Friday. If I miss Friday,
just note that two guys that are really hot right now are young and have
potential. And hey, what do you know! One of them is my pick this week for
potential player! Let’s take a look at the Brewers’ Jean Segura (Note: The
other person that I was thinking was Hyun-Jin Ryu).
Jean Segura is a shortstop from the
Dominican Republic, and is 23 years old. He debuted for the Angels, but was
traded last year to Milwaukee. Last year he played one game for the Angels and
struck out twice. They must’ve disliked him that much. At Milwaukee in 2012 he
batted .264 in 44 games. I don’t know if he’s up for rookie of the year this
year, but man he’s in for the running if he is.
Right now he is batting .365, the
best average in the National League. He is also the leader in triples and hits,
and also has a .400 OBP and a .569 slugging. Those percentages are higher than
teammate Ryan Braun. That’s pretty good
for a shortstop. The last time a shortstop was like that was Hanley Ramirez in
his prime, and Miguel Tejada’s 2002 season. When you have a shortstop that can
hit for power AND contact, you have something special. He’s on track to have
234 hits, 17 triples, 26 homers, and about 72 RBI’s. For a young shortstop,
that isn’t bad at all.
His Wins Above Replacement is 2.8,
which is the 7th best in the league. If you read my article before
on Wins Above Replacement, you may have remembered that a solid starter will
have a WAR stat of 2.0 or above. So the fact that he is among players who can
make solid starts for this young Brewers club can help a lot. Unfortunately,
the Brewer’s pitching staff is horrendous. They’ve lost their last 20 of 25.
But no matter! They still have hitters like Segura, Norichika Aoki, and of
course, Ryan Braun.
He’s already made 6 errors, but has
a .974 fielding percentage. That’s better than last year, but not worthy of a
gold glove. He is fast, though. When he gets on base, he is highly likely to
steal. He has 14 steals already, and will be on track to have just under 50 by
the end of the year.
Yesterday, Segura went 6 of 7 in
their loss against the Twins. All 6 hits were singles, including a single that
tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. The last person to have six hits was
Adrian Gonzalez, when he was on the Padres in 2009. Once again the kid is
showing that he is slowly turning into a star.
Nothing will ever beat his weird
performance on April 19th, which could mark has one of the most
memorable moments for Segura. The Brewers were playing the Cubs. In the Bottom
of the 8th, Segura reached 1st, and then stole second.
Ryan Braun walked after him. Segura was caught cheating and was picked off. In
the process of the rundown, Braun went to second, so both base runners ended up
on second. Braun was tagged and was out, but Segura thought that he was out. He
was tagged safely on second, but started walking towards the first base dugout.
After realizing what he did, he ran to first and was safe (Note: A person
cannot intentionally run back to first, but since this was an accidental
mistake, it was allowed). After all of this, he tried stealing second again,
and this time was thrown out. Segura stole and got caught stealing second in
the same inning. Wow.
Nevertheless, if Jean Segura keeps
it up, he can be a solid player that is consistent throughout his career. He
has the hitting like Miguel Tejada, and the longevity of Mark Ellis. He is this
week’s potential player.
-Evan Boyd
“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” –Yogi
Berra
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