A Miami Marlins hitter is working on improving his hitting

The Miami Marlins grabbed headlines by signing Jean Segura to play third base. It was a controversial move by GM Kim Ng, as Segura has never been a third baseman before. Ng was looking to improve the team's contact hitting, and signing a career .283/.329/.405 hitter to do so made sense. It hasn't worked out so well so far. We have more information on what he is doing to improve that...

Miami Marlins 3B Jean Segura needs to improve his hitting.

Jean Segura is going through the worst slump of his 12-year MLB career. He currently has a -1.2 WAR (!) that reflects his .209/.277/.248 batting line in 38 games and 129 AB. It's an absolutely dreadful performance from the previously elite contact hitter. Only two seasons ago he batted .290/.348/.436 for the Philadelphia Phillies. What happened to him? I analyzed Segura's season before and was happy to see that he has a .257 BABIP. Why was I happy? His career BABIP is .315. This means that it's very unlikely that he doesn't soon improve.

Jean Segura has been working with the Miami Marlins hitting coach Brant Brown. He was asking Brown a lot about hitting and trying to learn on how he can improve. Brown said: "I think it gives you a chance to sit back and observe a little bit, which can offer some clarity and kind of allows you to see the game outside of your own snow globe. We got back to work and came up with a plan of attack, and he's been really diligent to it the last few days."

Brown and Segura watched videos of Segura's swing, and noticed that his lower body wasn't moving forward as much. Apparently some of that work is paying off, as he's been 6 for 16 in the five games since the work started. "It stinks to sit down on the bench for two days in a row. When they give you a breather, something is wrong with you. If not, they would put you in the lineup. I'm struggling. Mental wise, I'm really, really struggling. When you're struggling mental wise, it doesn't matter how much video you watch. First of all, you need to clear your mind and go there, and produce. We'll see. I've been feeling much better since they gave me that breather. I've been swinging at better pitches in the zone and taking good pitches".

Let's hope that he'll play the way he was expected to.