At his wit's end, Segura could get a breather

PHOENIX – Marlins third baseman Jean Segura is a 12-year MLB veteran with 1,500 hits on his résumé.

But his early season struggles reached a crescendo Monday night during the sixth inning of the Marlins’ 5-2 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field, resulting in the first ejection of Segura's career.

• Game Story: Marlins drop series opener in Arizona ▶️

With runners at first and second with two outs in a 1-1 ballgame, Segura slammed his helmet after home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger called strike three on Zac Gallen’s 94.7 mph four-seamer that may have been low and inside. It was Segura’s third strikeout of the game.

“He's frustrated; there's no doubt about it,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Not the start that he wanted a month into his career here as a Marlin. It's frustration, some borderline calls that could have gone either way, the combination of things that are happening.

“A veteran that's been very successful in his career, and it just hasn't gone the way that he's wanted. I think it was a few things that happened today, and some calls he didn't like on top of just frustration.”

Through 33 games, Segura’s slash line is .186/.233/.212. He has just three extra-base hits and three RBIs.

Segura always has hit a lot of grounders and usually has a fairly high chase rate, but those numbers are even more pronounced, comparing 2022 to ’23:

• Chase rate from 34.7% to 43.0% (+8.3)
• Ground-ball rate from 56.2% to 65.2% (+9.0)

The 33-year-old Segura also has dealt with a good deal of tough luck: Entering the series opener Monday, his expected batting average (.248) and expected slugging percentage (.346) are both quite a bit higher than his actual numbers.

“I don't know what's going on,” Segura said. “Mechanically, mentally, physically -- it could be all those three things. And we don't know. I don't really know what's going on. I need to figure [it] out soon, because this is the big leagues. You're not here to go there and not produce and not help the team. You have to figure it out soon. At some point, somebody's going to come over and take your job.”

Miami signed Segura to a two-year, $17 million contract in January to improve a lineup that would later add Luis Arraez via trade. Segura was fresh off a World Series appearance with the National League East rival Phillies.

Despite the slow start, Segura and the Marlins were hopeful that his walk-off single on April 28 would signal the return of vintage Segura. That hasn’t been the case. Since then, he is 3-for-30 (.100) in nine games. Schumaker confirmed there have been talks of giving Segura a few days off to regroup mentally .

“He wants to play and try to get out of it,” Schumaker said. “Sometimes, guys need a couple days of work, sometimes guys want to keep playing and get through it. There's obviously been conversation on both sides of it. We talk to each player every day about how they feel.”

Hours before first pitch, speaking in general about what he would tell slumping players at this juncture of the season, Schumaker said to trust in what their coaches and instincts said. Find other ways to help the team, like on defense or the basepaths.

Schumaker also recalled advice former teammate Jerry Hairston once gave him. Hairston always arrived at the ballpark happy -- even during tough times -- with the mindset that he would bust out soon enough.

“I try different things,” Segura said. “I go in the cage, put my hands down, put my hands up. Get here with a good energy every single day, motivating myself in every single aspect. It really sucks. It's one of the worst feelings I’ve felt in my career to not be able to produce to help the team, to be that kind of player that I've always been at every level.

“I can't explain how terrible I feel and how bad it's being a baseball player right now, especially this team [that] really needs me.”

Miami has scored a MLB-low 118 runs. After going 16-13 in March/April, it is 1-6 in May. With Garrett Cooper and Avisaíl García on the injured list, runs seem even more difficult to come by.

“I'm really frustrated because we're almost a month and a half in the season,” Segura said. “Hitting .180 stinks, and I'm not here for hitting .180 and not helping this ballclub. For me, just another day, and hopefully this will turn around soon.”