…Jean Segura.
While most knowledgeable baseball fans have heard of Mike Trout, few have heard of Jean Segura, an unheralded Dominican that was signed by the Los Angeles Angels in 2007 at the ripe age of 16. However, after an excellent season last year in Lo-A Cedar Rapids where Segura batted .313, stole 50 bases while slugging 10 home runs, the Angels started to envision a major league batting order that went: 1. Mike Trout, and 2. Jean Segura.
Segura is a strong and athletic generating tremendous bat speed for a guy 5’ 10” and 185 pounds. Based on his swing mechanics, there appears to be power upside to the 10 home runs that Segura hit in 2010. In addition to the offensive upside, managers in the Midwest League ranked him as the best defensive second baseman in the league. With his plus arm, the Angels have moved Segura to shortstop in hopes that he will be an eventual upgrade in the big leagues.
Over the first 15 games of the 2011 season in Hi-A Inland Empire, Segura has raked - batting .344 with six stolen bases and 10 runs scored. While the sample size is small, his contact rate and walk rate have been excellent at 85% and 10% respectfully. Also, the transition to shortstop has been equally great with Segura only committing one error over the course of the first 15 games.
While slightly behind Trout, Segura should get a promotion to Double-A later this summer and assuming things go well, should get a peak at the big league in 2012 before competing for a job in 2013.
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