Cano's suspension crushed Jean Segura. It also gave him chance to 'carry' Mariners

SEATTLE — Jean Segura checked his ringing phone early the morning of May 15. It was his friend, mentor, father-figure and teammate, Robinson Cano.

Moments later he learned that Cano would be suspended 80 games for violating MLB’s joint drug agreement. It left Segura almost in tears.

“I couldn’t even eat,” Segura said. “Nothing would get through my stomach. I felt sad, felt bad. I can’t explain how bad I felt.”

He hasn’t affirmed so, but it also seemed to light a spark in the oft-reserved 28-year-old shortstop.

Since Cano’s suspension, the Mariners have also played stretches without Nelson Cruz, Dee Gordon and Mitch Haniger. Segura missed two games with a head injury before being reinserted at leadoff and shortstop on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers. Gordon (fractured toe) is expected to be ready to be activated off the 10-day disabled list on Thursday.

If you’re counting, Kyle Seager is the only player to not miss any games with injury of the Mariners’ projected starting lineup to open the season.

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Yet the Mariners are 11-3 since Cano's suspension and that's the best record in the major leagues over that stretch. Only the Boston Red Sox (37-17), Houston Astros (35-20) and Milwaukee Brewers (35-20) entered Tuesday with more wins than the Mariners (33-20).

“Jean – he’s been out a couple of days, but he was really carrying us offensively when he was in there,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

Cano’s absence created an opportunity for Segura. Not only on the field, but to break a bit out of his shell, to become more of a leader.

His locker in the Mariners’ clubhouse is two away from Cano’s and one to the right of Cruz, another of the team leaders. So it's not hard to imagine some of their influence rubbing off on Segura.

“A leader is a leader,” he said recently. “Robby has been a leader throughout his career. But for me I know I just have to go up there and do my job and play the game that I love and try to help some young guys in the lineup.

“I don’t think like that – that I’m a leader. But at this point if people want to call me a leader, I’ll take it.”

One person will call him that – his manager.

“This spring, just personality-wise, he’s much more open,” Servais said. “I think he feels like he’s a part of it. Obviously he got a contract extension here last year so he feels like this is home and this is where he’s going to be for a while and he wants to be part of a winning team.

“So he’s very much more engaged with teammates and at ease and has a smile on his face.”

That is opposite of how Segura was on May 15. And Segura took his frustrations out on the baseball later that night.

By the time that game against the Texas Rangers finished, Segura had compiled one of his best games in his two seasons as a Mariner, reaching base four times with three hits.And he tied a franchise record with four stolen bases in the 9-8, 11-inning victory.

Since Cano’s suspension, Segura has hit .383 (18-for-47) in the 11 games he’s played, with a .962 OPS (on-base plus slugging).

“For me, I give everything I have for this guy because he’s one of my best friends,” Segura said. “I love him as a father because of the patience and respect he brings to the game and he’s friends with everybody. He’s one of those guys you have to respect, even though it was his fault – he made a mistake and everybody can make a mistake.”

Segura said it was Cano who took him out of the deepest depth in his life and helped him discover how to cope with the death of his 9-month-old son.

Segura had come off of an All-Star season with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013, a year before that devastating, sudden death of his first boy.

He said he lost all love for the game and lived in that rut for two years learning how to grieve. On happenstance, Segura reached out to Cano.

“And Robby since that time was talking to me, like ‘Keep grinding, you have talent, you are going to be good, so keep working. Let’s get here and work every day,’” Segura said.

“Now, I mean, I feel – I just go home and I come here to play baseball because my love for the game came back. Even if I’m 0-for-4 or 0-for-20, I’m still going to feel a love for the game. Before, I went to the field and I was lost, pouty – I was lost and now I care.”

He’s starting to emulate more of Cano’s vibrant personality in the clubhouse, too

“You would like to say he’s trying harder, but I really don’t feel that,” Servais said. “I just think he’s in a good spot, confidence-wise. He’s really enjoying the game. He feels good at the plate and he’s hitting well and coming to the park with a smile on his face.

“I really don’t think he’s trying any harder. I just think he’s a talented guy and has a lot of tools.”

Segura isn’t just a key figure now that the Mariners need him to be. He hit .319 with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016, a season after hitting .257 with the Brewers. The Mariners acquired him, Haniger and left-hander Zac Curtis in a 2016 offseason trade for right-hander Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte.

“He’s key on any team,” Servais said. “He’s a talented player.”

And now a bigger presence in the clubhouse, too.

“I mean, I don’t think about that. I don’t think about it that way,” Segura said. “I just want to go in and have fun and continue to play my game. I think when you have fun during the baseball game, the results are going to come no matter what.

“That’s why they brought me here, why they signed me. They believe in me and trust that I can be that kind of player.”

Iwakuma rehab
Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma's outing against live batting practice was pushed back to Wednesday because Iwakuma felt some tightness in his neck, Servais said Tuesday. Iwakuma was originally scheduled to throw Tuesday in his recovery from offseason shoulder debridement surgery.

Servais said the Mariners' newest special assistant to the chairman, Ichiro Suzuki, could hit against Iwakuma during the session.

On tap
Left-hander James Paxton (4-1, 3.10 ERA) gets one more start to solidify what seems like a shoo-in for American League pitcher of the month.

He'll face the Rangers in the 7:10 p.m. game Wednesday at Safeco Field against left-hander Matt Moore (1-5, 7.99 ERA). The game will televise on Root Sports and broadcast on 710-AM radio.

KIRO