Day’s Improvement Has Helped K-State in 2023
Apr 27, 2023 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The Brady Day routine begins like this: He watches the pitcher from the dugout. He wants to see how he pitches against leftys. He wants to know the pitcher's go-to pitch and see his off-speed pitch. Same thing with his fastball. Once at the on-deck circle, Day examines the delivery and envisions timing up every pitch, seeing the bat hit the ball in perfect sequence. Finally in the batter's box, Day gets into his zone. He doesn't hear the crowd. He doesn't think about anything. All he focuses on is the pitcher, the pitch, and his bat.
"I definitely attribute my success to our coaches and the scouting reports and all the numbers that go along with it," Day says. "Every pitcher, we have a ton of information — what they throw, their velocity on their different pitches, their tendencies, spin rate and extension. We have all the tools to succeed.
"Lately, I've been more aggressive at the plate, which has definitely helped."
The 6-foot, 190-pound redshirt sophomore second baseman from Hampstead, New Hampshire is among the most improved players this season for Kansas State, 26-16 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12. Day is slashing .351/.503/.448 and ranks ninth in the Big 12 Conference in batting average and fourth in on-base percentage while leading the Wildcats with 47 hits. He has seven doubles, two home runs and 20 RBI with 13 games to go in the regular season.
He went 3-for-4 on Sunday and 4-for-9 overall as K-State won an important three-game series at UC Irvine to improve its season resume. He tied his career high with three hits on Sunday — a feat that he has reached four times in the last seven games. He has 13 multi-hit games this season.
A year ago, Day played in 41 games with 23 starts at third base and designated hitter, slashing .284/.402/.402 with seven doubles, a triple, a home run and 19 runs batted in.
He isn't concerned with his statistics, though. He's just focused on one thing: winning.
"It's fun, man," Day says. "We've really come together as a team and we have great team chemistry. Everyone is playing for each other and not for themselves. It's very unselfish baseball. It's just great to be a part of, I mean, we're doing well, but it's fun to have fun at the same time. I wouldn't want to do it with any other group of guys."
It's been a season of improvement for K-State, which is in third place in the Big 12 standings. One year after going 29-29, K-State has reached 26 wins, its fastest since 2013. The 2023 team is also the fastest in school history to reach nine conference wins. It has tied a program record with 13 road wins in a season. K-State swept Oklahoma at home for the first time since 1990 and most recently swept Kansas for the first time in a decade.
"Our sweeps against Oklahoma and Kansas, those are big in-conference sweeps and really help our resume, and our trip to UC Irvine, they had a really good RPI ranking and it really helped us out winning that series," Day says. "Those three things have been big for our resume going forward."
The key to K-State's success?
"A bunch of factors," Day says. "Our starting pitchers put us in a place to win. They don't walk anyone and get a lot of strikeouts. It really helps us settle in. We've also had games where our offense explodes, and we're that kind of offense where if we get hot one through nine, we can do damage. We hit the longball and beat infield singles and move first to third. There's a lot of different ways we can win. Our defense in conference has been really good. All those factors play into us winning."
K-State prepares for an important three-game series against No. 14 Texas Tech, 29-13 and 8-7, starting with a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday at Tointon Family Stadium.
"We're just going to approach it like every other series," Day says. "No moment is too big for us. We know we're a good team and just have to play up to our level. We're looking to get a good series win at home."
Then after four non-conference games (at Wichita State on May 2, and then against Southeast Missouri State on May 5-7) the Wildcats close out the regular season at Oklahoma State and against TCU in Manhattan.
"Our goals are to win the conference, go into the Big 12 Tournament and be a team that can win the tournament," Day says, "and then make a regional because we want to keep playing. We love the game."
That particularly goes for Day, who seemingly grows stronger as the season nears tournament play.
"In the past, sometimes I became a little defensive when I swung, so sometimes I wouldn't put the best swing on a pitch that I could hammer early in the count," he says. "It's making that balance of making sure I at least put a good swing on a ball. I can hit it hard and also do damage when I'm up in the count."
He's done damage all season.
It starts with a routine.
The Brady Day routine begins like this: He watches the pitcher from the dugout. He wants to see how he pitches against leftys. He wants to know the pitcher's go-to pitch and see his off-speed pitch. Same thing with his fastball. Once at the on-deck circle, Day examines the delivery and envisions timing up every pitch, seeing the bat hit the ball in perfect sequence. Finally in the batter's box, Day gets into his zone. He doesn't hear the crowd. He doesn't think about anything. All he focuses on is the pitcher, the pitch, and his bat.
"I definitely attribute my success to our coaches and the scouting reports and all the numbers that go along with it," Day says. "Every pitcher, we have a ton of information — what they throw, their velocity on their different pitches, their tendencies, spin rate and extension. We have all the tools to succeed.
"Lately, I've been more aggressive at the plate, which has definitely helped."
The 6-foot, 190-pound redshirt sophomore second baseman from Hampstead, New Hampshire is among the most improved players this season for Kansas State, 26-16 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12. Day is slashing .351/.503/.448 and ranks ninth in the Big 12 Conference in batting average and fourth in on-base percentage while leading the Wildcats with 47 hits. He has seven doubles, two home runs and 20 RBI with 13 games to go in the regular season.
He went 3-for-4 on Sunday and 4-for-9 overall as K-State won an important three-game series at UC Irvine to improve its season resume. He tied his career high with three hits on Sunday — a feat that he has reached four times in the last seven games. He has 13 multi-hit games this season.
A year ago, Day played in 41 games with 23 starts at third base and designated hitter, slashing .284/.402/.402 with seven doubles, a triple, a home run and 19 runs batted in.
He isn't concerned with his statistics, though. He's just focused on one thing: winning.
"It's fun, man," Day says. "We've really come together as a team and we have great team chemistry. Everyone is playing for each other and not for themselves. It's very unselfish baseball. It's just great to be a part of, I mean, we're doing well, but it's fun to have fun at the same time. I wouldn't want to do it with any other group of guys."
It's been a season of improvement for K-State, which is in third place in the Big 12 standings. One year after going 29-29, K-State has reached 26 wins, its fastest since 2013. The 2023 team is also the fastest in school history to reach nine conference wins. It has tied a program record with 13 road wins in a season. K-State swept Oklahoma at home for the first time since 1990 and most recently swept Kansas for the first time in a decade.
"Our sweeps against Oklahoma and Kansas, those are big in-conference sweeps and really help our resume, and our trip to UC Irvine, they had a really good RPI ranking and it really helped us out winning that series," Day says. "Those three things have been big for our resume going forward."
The key to K-State's success?
"A bunch of factors," Day says. "Our starting pitchers put us in a place to win. They don't walk anyone and get a lot of strikeouts. It really helps us settle in. We've also had games where our offense explodes, and we're that kind of offense where if we get hot one through nine, we can do damage. We hit the longball and beat infield singles and move first to third. There's a lot of different ways we can win. Our defense in conference has been really good. All those factors play into us winning."
K-State prepares for an important three-game series against No. 14 Texas Tech, 29-13 and 8-7, starting with a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday at Tointon Family Stadium.
"We're just going to approach it like every other series," Day says. "No moment is too big for us. We know we're a good team and just have to play up to our level. We're looking to get a good series win at home."
Then after four non-conference games (at Wichita State on May 2, and then against Southeast Missouri State on May 5-7) the Wildcats close out the regular season at Oklahoma State and against TCU in Manhattan.
"Our goals are to win the conference, go into the Big 12 Tournament and be a team that can win the tournament," Day says, "and then make a regional because we want to keep playing. We love the game."
That particularly goes for Day, who seemingly grows stronger as the season nears tournament play.
"In the past, sometimes I became a little defensive when I swung, so sometimes I wouldn't put the best swing on a pitch that I could hammer early in the count," he says. "It's making that balance of making sure I at least put a good swing on a ball. I can hit it hard and also do damage when I'm up in the count."
He's done damage all season.
It starts with a routine.
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