Philadelphia Phillies: Should Jean Segura make the All-Star Game?

When it comes to the Philadelphia Phillies and All-Star Game nominations, there are a few players who typically standout compared to the rest.

Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and even Rhys Hoskins. This trio of fan-favorites have dominated the fan vote-in process, with Realmuto the recipient of the Phillies nomination the past two seasons.

However, as the 2021 season slowly creeps along, it’s been Jean Segura who has quietly constructed a pretty strong case to be named an All-Star. Currently slashing .323/.377/.455 through his first 45 games of the season, Segura finds himself looking pretty favorable compared to some of the other second basemen in the National League.

Amongst the qualified 2B candidates on the official MLB.com ballot page, Segura currently ranks third in batting average (behind Adam Frazier and Nico Hoerner), and fifth in OPS (behind Frazier, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Hoerner). While he’s obviously not leading the NL in either of these two categories, he still ranks up near the top in both.

What really stands out about Segura is just how hot he’s been recently, as he’s batting .333 over his last seven games, and has 11 of his 16 total RBIs in his past 30 games. If Segura is able to maintain this stretch of form throughout the month of June, you could easily see his offensive production surpass some of the previously mentioned names.

Currently slashing .323/.377.455, Philadelphia Phillies 2B Jean Segura is building himself a half-decent All-Star Game bid.

Where things start to get interesting is in regards to Segura’s bWAR (Baseball Reference WAR), as they have Segura ranking towards the top of the entire league in terms of value. His 2.0 WAR not only leads the Philadelphia Phillies, but it also has him ranked 16th in Major League Baseball – just below the likes of Nolan Arenado and Ronald Acuna Jr.

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For what it’s worth, FanGraphs doesn’t view Segura in nearly the same type of light. Segura’s fWAR is just a 1.3, which sees him slot in as more of a middle-of-the-pack second baseman in the National League.

If I’m being completely honest I don’t think anyone uses metrics like fWAR and bWAR to dictate their voting process, fans just vote for their favorite players and managers/coaches just vote for their friends, or opponents that they have a lot of respect for.

Segura likely won’t edge out guys like Jazz Chisholm or Ozzie Albies during the fan voting stage, but he has a half-decent shot of sneaking his way in as a reserve.

Of course Zack Wheeler representing the Philadelphia Phillies at this year’s Midsummer Classic is a borderline lock, so the Phillies would have to earn two nominations to see Segura crack the roster. A right that’s typically only reserved for the best teams in baseball, Segura’s All-Star Game bid likely rests on his team’s ability to get back over .500 and into the postseason conversation.

Ultimately speaking, I have Segura missing out of the All-Star Game due to two major reasons.

Number one being that I don’t envision the Phillies possessing a record that’s good enough to warrant two All-Stars, and Segura’s defense hasn’t been the best over at 2B. He’s already got five errors this season, and his fielding % is almost a full point below the league average (.974 versus .982).

As impressive as hitting .300+ is, a lot of things would have to go right for Segura and the Phillies for him to earn his third career All-Star appearance this summer.