3 Miami Marlins struggling in Spring Training

3. 3B JEAN SEGURA

Jean Segura is the new Miami Marlins third baseman.

Jean Segura debuted in 2012 with the Los Angeles Angels but was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers that season. He batted .258/.315/.325 in 45 games and 151 AB that season. Segura's first full season with Milwaukee in 2013 and he batted .294/.329/.423 in 146 games and 588 AB. That was an impressive debut and he was worth 4.1 WAR.

He followed that up with a .246/.289/.326 batting line in 146 games and 513 AB in 2014. He wasn't much better in 2015, batting .257/.281/.336 in 142 games and 560 AB. Segura was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks after the season and had a break-out 2016 with them, batting .319/.368/.499 with 20 home runs and 64 RBI in 153 games and 637 AB.

Jean Segura was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the season, and batted .300/.349/.427 with 11 home runs and 45 RBI in 125 games and 524 AB in 2017. In 2018, he batted .304/.341/.415 with 10 home runs and 63 RBI in 144 games and 586 AB. After the season he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Segura had a solid career with Philly, batting .281/.337/.418 with 43 home runs and 176 RBI in 427 games and 1636 AB. He was worth 8.4 WAR during that time and 28.0 for his career.

The obvious problem in all of this is that Jean Segura has never been a third baseman before, which is the position that the Miami Marlins signed him to play. It's not unusual for a second baseman (his previous position) to switch over to third base, so I'm not particularly worried about how he's going to do in 2023 defensively. Even if he has issues now, I'm confident that he will eventually be able to figure it out. He's currently batting .214/.267/.286 with 0 home runs and 1 RBI in 6 games and 14 AB.

Jean Segura is struggling in Spring Training at the moment, but it's not unusual for players to struggle in Spring Training and have big seasons. Segura's track record and the small sample size make me feel less worried about his production during the season.