TROY – Tri-City ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia delivered the news he felt was long overdue to rightfielder Carson McCusker in the home clubhouse about three hours before Wednesday’s home game against the Schaumburg Boomers.
In his third season with the ValleyCats, McCusker is headed to affiliated baseball. The Minnesota Twins have signed McCusker, Tri-City announced.
McCusker, 25, was chasing the Frontier League’s Triple Crown. He leads the independent league in batting with a .433 average, in RBI with 51 and is tied for the home run lead with 17 homers, including two in Tri-City’s 16-9 win on Tuesday over Schaumburg at Bruno Stadium.
“It feels awesome,” McCusker said. “Doesn’t even feel real yet. Hasn’t really sunk in. A lot of hard work has paid off and can’t wait to get out there.”
McCusker, a native of Sparks, Nev., said he got hugs and high-fives from this teammates.
“It was pretty cool,” he said.
McCusker, who had spoken to a Twins scout, was waiting to see how much longer he would remain in Troy before heading to the Twins minor-league complex in Fort Myers, Fla. He sat out Wednesday’s game. He’ll find out later to which minor-league team he’ll be assigned.Â
“Job’s not finished,” McCusker said. “You know, this is the next stepping stone to where I want to go. So just keep grinding it out.”
After getting the news, his first phone calls were to his parents, girlfriend and a couple of school buddies.
Incaviglia has wondered aloud repeatedly this season why the 6-foot-8, 250-pound McCusker, a third-year professional out of Oklahoma State, had not been picked up by a Major League organization.
He has referred to McCusker as an Aaron Judge-like player, a towering rightfielder with great power. He said it was a “crime” McCusker hadn’t been signed.
“It makes no sense,” Incaviglia said last week. “I guess…
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