Jean Segura reaches 200 hits

The only player previously to reach the mark was Luis Gonzalez, who had 206 hits in his 1999 campaign. Since then, the closest anyone had come was the 198 hits achieved by Gonzo two years later, as part of the World Series winning team. A.J. Pollock made a run at the mark last season, but came up short. He entered the last week of games needing 15 hits to reach 200, but managed only seven, to end on 192.

Segura, meanwhile, has been accelerating of late. In the 15 games he has played since September 13, and including this evening's three knocks in Washington (which have now become official, at the end of the fifth inning, and so can no longer be taken away!), Segura has piled up 26 hits, batting .413 over that time, going 26-for-63. The power hasn't been lacking either, with Segura having had eight home-runs in that time, to reach 20 homers for the season.

That double-bill of 20 home-runs and 200 hits hasn't been achieved by any National League hitter since Ryan "Asterisk" Braun in 2009. Add in the thirty stolen-bases also achieved by Segura this year, and it's an even rarer trifecta, achieved just ten times in NL history, most recently by Hanley Ramirez and Jimmy Rollins in 2007.It's even more unprecedented for a second-baseman. Only two regular players at the position have managed it: Alfonso Soriano for the 2002 Yankees, and Craig Biggio of the 1998 Astros.

In a season which been thoroughly disappointing in so many ways, the presence of Segura at the top of the order has been one of the most incandescent of bright spots for the 2016 Diamondbacks. The past few seasons have seen Paul Goldschmidt win our end-of-season MVP award at a canter - last year, with 80% of the votes. But this year, Segura promises to be a credible contender, and it's an entirely justified challenge, as he has performed at a remarkable level, likely far in excess of what even the most optimistic of fans would have hoped for, at the time of his trade from the Milwaukee Brewers in January.