TROY — Pretty good wasn’t good enough for Tri-City ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia.
The ValleyCats were respectable in their first two seasons under Incaviglia in the independent Frontier League. They went 50-46 in 2021 and 54-41 last season.
But they missed the playoffs both years — including on the final day of the regular season two years ago. That’s not why Incaviglia drove up from his home in Texas to manage the team.
“I feel like my job hasn’t been done yet,” Incaviglia said. “Finish a game out of the playoffs the first year and a couple of games out the second year. That’s not the plan. Guys are out there trying as hard as they can, but we came up a couple games short. Definitely, want to get in the playoffs and bring that trophy home, man, that’s what it’s all about.”
With that in mind, Incaviglia made significant changes to the roster heading into this season, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
“There’s a lot of guys that had played for me for a long time,” Incaviglia said. “It was just time. It was time to change it up a little bit.”
That was an understatement. Only one pitcher, right-hander Brac Warren, remains on the active roster from a staff that posted a 5.84 earned-run average last season, 13th out of 16 Frontier League teams.
The ValleyCats signed pitcher Dwayne Marshall, who went 11-3 with a 2.67 ERA for the rival Sussex County Miners last season. Marshall will start Friday’s opener. Tri-City got a new closer, former big leaguer Reymin Guduan, to replace Trey Cochran-Gill, who retired.
Incaviglia didn’t even stand pat with an offense that ranked third in the league with a .288 batting average, first with 162 homers and second with 624 runs scored. The ValleyCats traded Frontier League home run…
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