SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2025
EXPLORERS ACQUIRE DAY
FORMER MIZZOU TIGER SET TO ANCHOR INFIELD
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Sioux City Explorers have announced that the club has acquired infielder Joshua Day via trade with Rocky Mountain of the Pioneer League for a player to be named later, signing him for the 2025 season. The addition of Day brings the total of players signed for the 2025 season to 18.
Joshua Day, a native of Natchez, Mississippi was selected in the 15th round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the University of Missouri. He spent two seasons with the Arizona organization before spending 2024 with Rocky Mountain. Day played in 90 games for the Vibe last season, slashing a line of .350/.436/.587 while clubbing 18 home runs with 82 RBI and 11 stolen bases. The right-handed hitter finished second on the team in home runs and RBI while leading the team with 93 runs scored and finishing second in hits with 127. Day was named to the 2024 Mid-Season All-Star Team and 2024 Postseason All-Star team by the Pioneer League at second base. He was joined on the 2024 Rocky Mountain roster by a pair of 2025 Explorers signees in Kurtis Byrne and Austin Davis, playing for former Explorers manager Les Lancaster.
Day spent the 2023 season with the Diamondbacks organization before his release in April of 2024. He hit .197 in 82 games with Hillsboro in the Northwest League, hitting six home runs with 29 RBI. Day would finish with a slash line of .197/.283/.303 while playing in 29 games at third base, 27 games at shortstop, 20 at second base and another four at first base.
In 2022, Day made three stops in the Arizona system playing in 26 games for the season. Day made his professional debut on August 6, 2022, with the Arizona Complex League D-backs and would play a total of two games at rookie level, going 0-for-4 before joining A-level Visalia. In 20 games at Visalia, Day hit .319 with two home runs and 13 RBI. Day would record his first career hit by belting a grand slam on Aug. 11, 2022, at Modesto. He added another four games at Hillsboro in the high A Northwest League, going 4-for-17 with two RBI to close out the season.
Day spent two seasons at the University of Missouri, where he hit .301 with nine homers, 50 RBI, 14 doubles and had 105 hits in 349 at-bats across 94 games for his two-year career. He would post a two-year slash line of .301/.408/.424 while in Columbia. Day made 50 starts at shortstop in 2022 while hitting .340 for the Tigers and would finish the year ranked 15th in the SEC in on-base percentage at .435. Day scored a team-high 50 runs with 29 RBI with 10 doubles and seven home runs along with nine stolen bases. He led the team with 23 multi-hit games and got off to a strong start to the season by hitting in seven consecutive games. Day would finish strong as well with hits in his last five games, including four games with multiple hits. Day was named to the spring academic honor roll and was the only Mizzou player to receive all-conference honors, being named second team All-SEC following his senior season. Day was set to enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer but was drafted by Arizona and would sign instead with the Diamondbacks in June of 2022.
In 2021 Day would miss part of the season with a broken hand but go on to play in 44 games, making 43 starts for the Tigers. He would hit .306 in the first 20 games before the hand injury and would finish the season hitting .250 but recording a hit in each of his last seven games. Day would hit two home runs and drive in 21 runs while swiping seven bags. In 94 games over two seasons, Day played in 92 games at shortstop and another two games at second base.
Day would play two seasons at Copiah Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Mississippi before going to Missouri. In 2020 Day played in 15 games, hitting .267 and scoring 16 runs with three home runs and 11 RBI. He would hit safely in eight of 15 games for the Wolves before the season was suspended by the world-wide pandemic. His first season at Copiah Lincoln, Day appeared in 41 games, hitting .333 and scoring 43 runs with four long balls and 31 RBI while adding 13 stolen bases. He would finish with a .485 on-base percentage with 11 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games.
Day will turn 25 on March 25; attended Adams County Christian Academy in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi and graduated from the University of Missouri where he majored in business.
Players signed 2025:
IF Joshua Day
RHP Felix Cepeda
LHP Brendan O’Donnell
C Jake Meyer
RHP Heitor Tokar
IF Luis Toribio
IF Abdiel Layer
OF Jose Layer
OF Austin Davis
OF Zac Vooletich
LHP Miguel Pozo
OF Emilio Corona
C/1B Kurtis Byrne
LHP Chase Jessee
OF Henry George
RHP Jeremy Goins
LHP Jaren Jackson
RHP Ben Madison
The Explorers are set to open their 32nd season in the Siouxland on the road Thursday night, May 8, at 6:30 p.m. against the Kane County Cougars. The club will celebrate opening night at Lewis and Clark Park Friday night, May 16 at 7:05 p.m., against the Kansas City Monarchs. Ticket packages for the 2025 season are on-sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10, 15 and 25-game Flex Packs. More information is available by calling the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers social media channels and the club’s website xsbaseball.com for off-season news and updates. The official podcast of the Explorers can be found online and tune into the live show on Facebook Live during the offseason for more news and Explorers content.