More than a double-play tandem: Phillies veteran Jean Segura shares a close bond with rookie Bryson Stott

Jean Segura and Bryson Stott were born 3,000 miles away and seven years apart, but they both have the same slow heartbeat. Segura spent three offseasons in his native country, the Dominican Republic, playing winter ball in front of fans who treat every game as if a World Series is on the line. It taught him not just how to cope with pressure, but how to embrace it.

Stott’s slow heartbeat is a byproduct of who he has lost. In 2016, his best friend, Cooper Ricciardi, passed away from leukemia at the age of 18. Ever since then, the shortstop has been able to put the game in perspective. He can go 0-for-4, or commit an error or two, but nothing will ever compare to what Ricciardi endured.

» READ MORE: Phillies grab NLCS advantage, but who’s favored to take Game 4?

Stott is a 25-year-old rookie, and Segura is a 11-year MLB veteran, but both are in the postseason for the first time. It is their slow heartbeats that have allowed them to thrive. On Friday night, in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, Segura missed a ball that Stott threw to him at second base. What should have been a double play allowed a run to score in the fourth inning and tied the game at 1.

Just a half-inning later, with two runners on, Segura lined a two-run single to right field to give his team a 3-1 lead. In the top of the sixth inning, the Padres threatened again. With runners on first and second and one out, Josh Bell hit a ball Segura’s way.

This time, Segura handled it with ease. He calmly fielded the ball and flipped it to Stott, who fired it to first base for a double play to end the inning. In the top of the seventh inning, Segura made a diving stop to rob Ha-Seong Kim of a hard-hit ground ball with two outs. As he walked off the field, he pumped his arms, flexed and let out a cathartic yell into the October air.

Stott likes seeing this emotion from his double play partner. He knows how much these moments mean to Segura and how long he has waited to experience them. At the beginning of the season, while Stott was struggling to find his footing in the big leagues and Segura was nursing a right index finger fracture that had him sidelined for two months, things looked bleak. But Segura now sees that as part of the journey.

“Everything you went through was worth it to get here,” Segura told Stott after they clinched a playoff spot in Houston. “And everything I went through was worth it as well.”

» READ MORE: ‘Clutch Jean’ Segura redeems himself in Game 3 for the Phillies in the NLCS

When Segura noticed Stott was struggling in April and May, he decided to take him under his wing. He challenged the rookie to use his two-strike approach more often, starting with just 10 at-bats. From there, Stott took off, and the two have been close ever since.

Segura said he never had a mentor early on, and felt that he could have benefitted from one. It’s why he has embraced Stott — who he endearingly calls his “youngster.”

“I help him out with whatever he wants,” Segura said. “Sometimes he doesn’t even have to come to me, I come to him, because I know how hard this game is. And I know it can be even harder when nobody is coming to you and giving you advice.”

What began as a mentor-mentee relationship has blossomed into a close friendship. Stott likes to tease Segura for some of his more eccentric habits. When Segura was going through a hitting slump before the Phillies’ clinched a playoff spot, he began taping his bat to a trash can.

He’d grab his bat right before heading into the on-deck circle and tape it back to the trash can when he returned to the dugout. And sure enough, the hits started to come.

“It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Stott said. “I don’t know what the point is. He’s just having fun, but I guess it worked.”

» READ MORE: How a meeting in St. Louis and an electric home park set the stage for a wild win

In turn, Segura likes to joke that when Stott hits behind him or in front of him, “good stuff happens.” It’s hard to dispute that theory after seeing what they’ve done in October. On Friday night, Stott went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, becoming the first rookie in Phillies history to record multiple extra-base hits in a postseason game.

“He looks like he’s 34-35,” Segura said. “He’s only 25. I think he’s going to keep learning a lot of time, attention, some stuff of the game and the kid listens. And I think he’s going to be a really good baseball player.”

Regardless of where this playoff run ends, Segura and Stott are grateful to experience it together. And so far, they’re not only experiencing it; they’re contributing in meaningful ways.

“We try to keep everything slow,” Stott said of Segura, “and it feels like he’s been here before. That’s what you want to see from your double play partner.”