Missouri freshman catcher Brett Bond didn’t do anything special during his recovery time away from the baseball field after he suffered an ankle sprain April 9 against Tennessee during a collision at the plate.
Simply resting was all he needed.
“I got to take a break and relax for a little bit,” Bond said. “It’s been a long season and a grind. It was tough being patient and getting back in there, but I think I was just able to relax and that was nice.”
Bond, a major player of Missouri’s impressive freshman recruiting class coming into the season, has enjoyed a very successful first year as a Tiger. In Southeastern Conference games, he sports the team’s highest batting average (.355) and leads the Tigers with three home runs and a .532 slugging percentage (minimum 50 at-bats). Bond has also been a steady force behind the plate for the Tigers, boasting the team’s second-highest fielding percentage (.993).
Bond was also named Freshman of the Week in the SEC for his performance this past weekend against Ole Miss. The St. Louis native was instrumental in Mizzou capturing its sixth conference series victory of the season, hitting .467 against the Rebels and leading the Tigers in batting, hits, RBI, total bases and doubles.
Despite a 4-3 defeat in the series finale, Bond said he was just happy to have been able to start behind the plate in three straight games for the first time since before the injury.
“I’m finally getting back with my feet under me again,” Bond said. “It’s been an annoying injury, but it’s finally getting a little better.”
Although he missed being on the field, Bond said the time out of the lineup likely did him some good, allowing him to take a break and re-focus. Tigers’ coach Tim Jamieson agreed but also saw the ill effects of the injury in Bond’s first couple games back.
“When (Bond) got hurt, he was able to take a couple weeks away from (baseball),” Jamieson said. “I think that refreshed his body and his arm, but it also hurt him. His first game back, his timing was off.”
However, Jamieson did say that he thinks Bond is starting to return to his early-season form after his big weekend against Ole Miss. Bond hit a couple of home runs in the Tigers’ trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, back in February and was instrumental in Mizzou getting off to its best start (10-1) since 1985, when the Tigers started 14-0.
With Bond back healthy, the Tigers offense received a much-needed boost against Ole Miss. In Mizzou’s series against Vanderbilt, with Bond still nursing the ankle sprain and not playing at 100 percent, the Tigers were outscored 26-6. Against Ole Miss, the Tigers put up 25 runs total, including an 18-1 victory in game two, the largest conference win for Mizzou since it entered the SEC.
Mizzou travels to LSU (40-8, 16-7 SEC) this weekend to face the No. 1 team in the nation and will likely need another solid performance from Bond to steal a game. With one win, the Tigers will likely solidify a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Mizzou currently sits in third in the SEC East with 14 conference wins. Historically, 15 SEC victories guarantee a team a spot in regionals.
“I think we need to just do what we did this weekend and be confident,” Bond said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re facing, we just have to go in there and play Mizzou baseball.”
