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Every year, the Giants give out the Harry S. Jordan award to the "player in his first big league camp whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the San Francisco Giants spirit." This year, the award went to Brock Bond, who is probably on base somewhere right now, secretly wondering why this was his first big-league camp.
To recap why some of us are goofy for Bond:
| Year | Age | Lev | PA | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 21 | A--Rk | 253 | 32 | 24 | .317 | .429 | .406 | .835 |
| 2008 | 22 | A+-A | 350 | 33 | 51 | .315 | .398 | .364 | .762 |
| 2009 | 23 | AA | 531 | 67 | 69 | .333 | .429 | .409 | .838 |
| 2010 | 24 | AAA-AA | 537 | 69 | 73 | .283 | .389 | .372 | .761 |
| 2011 | 25 | AAA | 65 | 7 | 8 | .246 | .338 | .333 | .672 |
| 2012 | 26 | AAA | 395 | 48 | 41 | .332 | .422 | .398 | .820 |
| 6 Seasons | 2131 | 256 | 266 | .313 | .410 | .387 | .797 | ||
That's a .410 OBP in the minors, and his defense isn't going to make anyone forget about Freddy Sanchez, but it's at least Keppinger-quality. As the last man on the bench, with Arias already available to play short, I'm all about Bond as a utility player, dang it. But there's something the Giants don't like about him, and they're not exactly alone. Every team in baseball passed on Bond in the Rule 5 draft this winter.
Maybe his defense is sub-Keppinger, and he just fooled us with his relative competency in the spring. Dunno. As a switch-hitter with no discernible platoon splits, he's almost the perfect benchie. But let's not beat our heads against the wall. You'll get Nick Noonan and like it. Edit: Also, Bond has an oblique tweak. That's the main reason.
Bond hit two homers in 25 plate appearances this spring, which is half as many as he had in the previous 2,131 plate appearances in the minors. That's worth some kind of award, alright. The Emmanuel Burriss best-shape-of-his-life award, at least. So congrats to Bond, and hopefully we'll get to see him on the bench soon.
If you're curious, here's the list of Harry S. Jordan Award winners. Don't look directly at Derin McMains's name, Brock! He didn't have the OBP you did! It means nothing!
1988 - Joe Kmak, Francisco Melendez
1989 - James Steel
1990 - Eric Gunderson
1991 - Mark Leonard
1992 - John Patterson
1993 - Greg Brummett
1994 - J.R. Phillips
1995 - Joe Rosselli
1996 - Marvin Benard
1997 - Dante Powell
1998 - Russ Ortiz
1999 - Damon Minor
2000 - Ben Weber
2001 - Pedro Feliz
2002 - Felix Escalona
2003 - Jason Ellison
2004 - Brian Dallimore
2005 - Scott Munter
2006 - Derin McMains
2007 - Tim Lincecum
2008 - Brian Bocock
2009 - Joe Martinez
2010 - Darren Ford
2011 - Brandon Belt
2012 - Dan Otero
2013 - Brock Bond
Some great, great names on that list. I remember being excited about Felix Escalona as a utility option, which is a fantastic way to point out how stupid it is to worry about the last guy on a 25-man roster.