Ward: The Man Of Steal
February 07, 2019 | Baseball
It took a few games under the belt for Braiden Ward to get going as a freshman, but once he got rolling, he was hard to slow down. The centerfielder from Merced, Calif., ended up stealing a Pac-12 leading 19 bases and batting over .300 in his first year at Washington. Ward returns for his sophomore season more confident, more skilled and more prepared to steal a lot of bases.
Q: What did leading the Pac-12 in steals mean to you?
Braiden Ward: When I opened up the season, that wasn't really my goal. My goal was to steal a lot of bags – at least the most on our team. Stealing the most in the Pac-12 wasn't even a thought in my mind until midway through the season when I saw the Pac-12 stats. I was like, 'Wow, I'm up there and I can do that.' It honestly was a goal, not necessarily to win the (stolen bases) title, but just to steal the most for my team and put myself in as many scoring opportunities that I could get.
Q: At what point last year did the switch come on for you, where you think you turned the corner?
Ward: I think it was confidence and knowing that the guy on the mound is just another human. He's not Chris Sale. I remember the very first at bat I had at Sacramento State. I literally was up there with huge eyes; my heartbeat was racing. I was like, 'Oh my, this is ridiculous.' I think I popped up to the pitcher. That was my first college at bat.
After the nerves wore down and I felt like I had contributed – at least a little bit during the season – I felt like I was right there. I was just as good as anyone else and I could do the job with confidence. The game is all about confidence and that just carried on.
Q: As a speedster, what is your approach in the batter's box?
Ward: My approach now is that the pitcher is pitching to you. You're not hitting against him, he's pitching against you. You don't have to look for a strike, he must throw you a strike. He has to try and beat you. You're not trying to beat him. You have to try to put yourself above him. Whether the pitcher is the best in the Pac-12 or what not, you can't think about that. You must have confidence and believe that you're the one in charge.
Q: The opposing pitcher doesn't want to put you on base, yet you led the team in hit by pitches. Do you think your speed gets into pitcher's heads?
Ward: I think last season they knew I could hit a fastball, so they tried to throw a lot of off-speed pitches. I can beat out a lot of balls on the ground to the infielders, so maybe the pitchers were trying to be too fine. They'd throw a curveball a little high and in that would hang a little bit and I'd get hit. It seemingly never was a hard fastball straight into the back. I think that only happened once where I took a hard fastball off the wrist at Oregon State. I think that was the only time it hurt. To me, a hit by pitch is just like a walk. Unless I just get drilled and it hurts. That changes it a little bit!
Q: When you're standing at first base with second open, what is the situation you need to see to take off?
Ward: First off, I need the green light from coach. I never 100 percent have the green light on my own. Maybe that will change this year? Probably not! But, if I get the steal sign my ideal situation is to see a little leg, 1-3 to the plate, not a super-fast straight slide step. That is tough to steal on. Not many pitchers can do it well.
Q: Do you have any new goals for this season regarding stealing bases?
Ward: I would like to not get thrown out. It would be nice to be the Pac-12 leader again and contend nationally for the top-10, but the ultimate goal is whether or not I steal a lot of bags, it's being able to get on second for (Nick) Kahle or House (Joe Wainhouse). My favorite stat I saw last year wasn't the most stolen bases. It was at one point, if I got on first base, I scored something like 70 percent of the time. I think runs scored is more important than stolen bases.
Q: Is there an art to practicing stealing bases?
Ward: It all in the jump. Once you have a runner's form – which almost everyone has – and you can accelerate, it becomes just about finding what can get you the best jump. Whether it is how your feet or hands are positioned, how your shoulders are or how you can get the fastest 1-2 step, that's when you can feel it. That's when you determine if your going to abort a steal. If I take my first 1-2 and I don't feel right, that's when I shut it down.
Q: At summer ball, what were some of your goals help you improve for this year?
Ward: My goal was to continue to work on jumps and reads. In summer ball, I had the green light 100 percent of the time. I could also steal third, which I never got to do last year at UW, because I wasn't experienced enough. My goal was to try and steal third a bunch of times. I think the first three or four times, I failed. I would get a bad jump, or I over slid the bag one time. It's a little different. I finally got better at it and I got more used to it.
Q: Can we expect to see you steal third this season?
Ward: Yes. Yes you can.
Q: How rewarding was the postseason experience for you last season?
Ward: It was so much fun. I remember standing in center at Omaha in the very first inning against Mississippi State and I was thinking, a year ago I was on my high school field playing in a game and there were probably 10 fans in the stands – and they were all parents. Now I'm hear with like 40,000 people yelling at me. It was unreal.
Q: You came to UW as a second baseman and transitioned to center field. How would you assess your improvement in the outfield?
Ward: Switching positions is an adjustment. Going from the infield, where it's ground balls and maybe getting a popup, to the outfield where you get line drives at you with back spin or top spin, you really must read and see that. You see people run in and then run back. It's now over their head. It's all these different things. You don't get as much action in the outfield, but you still get stuff that matters. All mistakes matter, but in the outfield, people probably hate you more! It's just different. It took me a lot of practice, a lot of reps. I think my throws were awful until I finally had one good throw against Stanford. I feel more comfortable now. It's not second nature; I still need work and need to improve. But I feel more comfortable now to the point where I'm more relaxed. I feel like I'm getting better.
Q: Last year's run was largely because you guys took such a family-first mentality. Do you see a lot of that again this year?
Ward: That's the only reason we had so much success last year. That's the only thing we carried over. Without that concept, we would not have gone anywhere last year. We would have been watching the College World Series from home on TV. I feel like that's the only thing we're really focused on now. Last year we kind of had it, but we had to really find it and focus on it at the end. Now, we're focused on it from the beginning. Hopefully we're going to win and we're going to use that family aspect to stay strong and remain united. Hopefully we'll use it when we struggle too. Obviously, we're going to lose some games. We're not going to go undefeated. We'll be able to use that family aspect to bounce back.
Q: What did leading the Pac-12 in steals mean to you?
Braiden Ward: When I opened up the season, that wasn't really my goal. My goal was to steal a lot of bags – at least the most on our team. Stealing the most in the Pac-12 wasn't even a thought in my mind until midway through the season when I saw the Pac-12 stats. I was like, 'Wow, I'm up there and I can do that.' It honestly was a goal, not necessarily to win the (stolen bases) title, but just to steal the most for my team and put myself in as many scoring opportunities that I could get.
Q: At what point last year did the switch come on for you, where you think you turned the corner?
Ward: I think it was confidence and knowing that the guy on the mound is just another human. He's not Chris Sale. I remember the very first at bat I had at Sacramento State. I literally was up there with huge eyes; my heartbeat was racing. I was like, 'Oh my, this is ridiculous.' I think I popped up to the pitcher. That was my first college at bat.
After the nerves wore down and I felt like I had contributed – at least a little bit during the season – I felt like I was right there. I was just as good as anyone else and I could do the job with confidence. The game is all about confidence and that just carried on.
Q: As a speedster, what is your approach in the batter's box?
Ward: My approach now is that the pitcher is pitching to you. You're not hitting against him, he's pitching against you. You don't have to look for a strike, he must throw you a strike. He has to try and beat you. You're not trying to beat him. You have to try to put yourself above him. Whether the pitcher is the best in the Pac-12 or what not, you can't think about that. You must have confidence and believe that you're the one in charge.
Q: The opposing pitcher doesn't want to put you on base, yet you led the team in hit by pitches. Do you think your speed gets into pitcher's heads?
Ward: I think last season they knew I could hit a fastball, so they tried to throw a lot of off-speed pitches. I can beat out a lot of balls on the ground to the infielders, so maybe the pitchers were trying to be too fine. They'd throw a curveball a little high and in that would hang a little bit and I'd get hit. It seemingly never was a hard fastball straight into the back. I think that only happened once where I took a hard fastball off the wrist at Oregon State. I think that was the only time it hurt. To me, a hit by pitch is just like a walk. Unless I just get drilled and it hurts. That changes it a little bit!
Q: When you're standing at first base with second open, what is the situation you need to see to take off?
Ward: First off, I need the green light from coach. I never 100 percent have the green light on my own. Maybe that will change this year? Probably not! But, if I get the steal sign my ideal situation is to see a little leg, 1-3 to the plate, not a super-fast straight slide step. That is tough to steal on. Not many pitchers can do it well.
Q: Do you have any new goals for this season regarding stealing bases?
Ward: I would like to not get thrown out. It would be nice to be the Pac-12 leader again and contend nationally for the top-10, but the ultimate goal is whether or not I steal a lot of bags, it's being able to get on second for (Nick) Kahle or House (Joe Wainhouse). My favorite stat I saw last year wasn't the most stolen bases. It was at one point, if I got on first base, I scored something like 70 percent of the time. I think runs scored is more important than stolen bases.
Q: Is there an art to practicing stealing bases?
Ward: It all in the jump. Once you have a runner's form – which almost everyone has – and you can accelerate, it becomes just about finding what can get you the best jump. Whether it is how your feet or hands are positioned, how your shoulders are or how you can get the fastest 1-2 step, that's when you can feel it. That's when you determine if your going to abort a steal. If I take my first 1-2 and I don't feel right, that's when I shut it down.
Q: At summer ball, what were some of your goals help you improve for this year?
Ward: My goal was to continue to work on jumps and reads. In summer ball, I had the green light 100 percent of the time. I could also steal third, which I never got to do last year at UW, because I wasn't experienced enough. My goal was to try and steal third a bunch of times. I think the first three or four times, I failed. I would get a bad jump, or I over slid the bag one time. It's a little different. I finally got better at it and I got more used to it.
Q: Can we expect to see you steal third this season?
Ward: Yes. Yes you can.
Q: How rewarding was the postseason experience for you last season?
Ward: It was so much fun. I remember standing in center at Omaha in the very first inning against Mississippi State and I was thinking, a year ago I was on my high school field playing in a game and there were probably 10 fans in the stands – and they were all parents. Now I'm hear with like 40,000 people yelling at me. It was unreal.
Q: You came to UW as a second baseman and transitioned to center field. How would you assess your improvement in the outfield?
Ward: Switching positions is an adjustment. Going from the infield, where it's ground balls and maybe getting a popup, to the outfield where you get line drives at you with back spin or top spin, you really must read and see that. You see people run in and then run back. It's now over their head. It's all these different things. You don't get as much action in the outfield, but you still get stuff that matters. All mistakes matter, but in the outfield, people probably hate you more! It's just different. It took me a lot of practice, a lot of reps. I think my throws were awful until I finally had one good throw against Stanford. I feel more comfortable now. It's not second nature; I still need work and need to improve. But I feel more comfortable now to the point where I'm more relaxed. I feel like I'm getting better.
Q: Last year's run was largely because you guys took such a family-first mentality. Do you see a lot of that again this year?
Ward: That's the only reason we had so much success last year. That's the only thing we carried over. Without that concept, we would not have gone anywhere last year. We would have been watching the College World Series from home on TV. I feel like that's the only thing we're really focused on now. Last year we kind of had it, but we had to really find it and focus on it at the end. Now, we're focused on it from the beginning. Hopefully we're going to win and we're going to use that family aspect to stay strong and remain united. Hopefully we'll use it when we struggle too. Obviously, we're going to lose some games. We're not going to go undefeated. We'll be able to use that family aspect to bounce back.
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