Corbin Day is another guy from Cedar Rapids in the big leagues

CEDAR RAPIDS - Do not use the name Corbin Day and the term ‘Big Leaguer’ in the same sentence. Repeat, do NOT do it.

It makes him bristle.

“I am definitely not in those ranks,” Day said.

But the Cedar Rapidian, Prairie High School graduate and former assistant coach at Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy University is working in the major leagues this baseball season.

Day is with the Minnesota Twins as what is titled ‘Advance Scout, Run Production.’ It’s strictly a support position, he stressed, though he’s with the team daily, including this weekend in Seattle for their series against the Mariners.

“I won’t go into too many details, so as not to get into trouble,” Day said Thursday afternoon via phone. “But basically it’s the game-planning portion ... I think the best way to summarize it is I’m a supporting character to the hitting coaches. I’m there for whatever they need.

“I basically take as much off of their plates as I can. Whatever they need from me, I do. Definitely a supporting role, not coaching. I think that is very important to be clear on.”

Still considering everything, this is quite a story.

The 28-year-old was a part-time teacher at Cedar Rapids Kennedy four years ago, an assistant coach at Kirkwood three years ago. Now he’s constantly around some of the best players in the game, taking charter flights to MLB cities and staying at five-star hotels.

Pretty good.

“It has been super cool,” Day said. “Just to be around the day to day of some of these guys: Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Ty France. And just the staff, too: (manager) Rocco Baldelli, (bench coach) Jayce Tingler. There is so much experience in that room, and to just kind of be able to observe and try to learn as much as possible from these guys that are doing it at the highest level, and at a very high level, has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And something I try and take advantage of.”

Day began his professional baseball career in 2023 as a co-hitting coach with the hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels. He was on the Kirkwood staff prior to that, with Kirkwood assistant coach Pete Lauritson putting in a good word with the Twins on him.

Lauritson had been a minor league hitting coach and hitting coordinator in the Cleveland Guardians organization before going to Kirkwood. Minnesota’s minor league hitting coordinator was at the time and still is Bryce Berg, a Carroll native.

Last season, he was with Double-A Wichita as co-hitting coach. Originally slated for a return, he got a phone call this past November from Twins assistant general manager Alex Hassan to see if he had any interest in what is his current job.

A long conversation ensued, and by the end of the night, Day had signed a contract for the position. He works directly with Minnesota hitting coach Matt Borgschulte and assistant hitting coach Rayden Sierra.

“I am technically not a coach, but this keeps me around players,” Day said. “I get to watch our hitting coaches work, I get to watch the staff from a very close place, I get to be around the cages and stuff. So there are still benefits of being around the hitting space and learning from a bunch of people.

“I try to be there if they need anything, but other than that, I kind of stay out of the way. (The players) are very friendly. They’re all professionals, they’re all very serious about their work, but they have a lot of fun. Yeah, they’re great guys.”

Day was asked about his future in the game and deferred giving a definitive answer. It’s a year-to-year thing, he insisted.

He prefers to be in the now baseball wise. By the way, his brother, Casey, a former player and coach at Kirkwood, is in his second season with the Baltimore Orioles organization as pitching coach for Class A Delmarva.

“That’s where I try to keep it,” Corbin said. “Where I go long term is not super important to me right now. I just want to do this job really well while I’m here. I’m just trying to do it the best I can.

“I do miss the coaching piece. I was really close to that group in Wichita last year, just being with them for two years. Even going back to Kirkwood with Pete Lauritsen and (head coach) Todd Rima. Those are things that mean a lot, you miss it a lot. But this is a new opportunity, a little bit different responsibilities. It’s good all the same.”

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