Cappuccilli looks forward to opportunity with West Michigan Whitecaps
PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Tony Cappuccilli will be the first to tell you he doesn’t know exactly what kind of manager he is going to be yet.
It’s his second chance at being a manager at the professional level. He managed the Arizona Complex League Dodgers in 2021. It may take time to feel out the team and situation for the West Michigan Whitecaps.
What Cappuccilli does know right now is what he wants to help implement on a day-to-day basis.
“Our biggest thing is going to be working every day,” Cappuccilli said. “Not necessarily reacting to bad things that happen during a game, but looking at the season overall to become better baseball players. I think that’s going to be our main focus, hopefully we can be competitive and go win some games.”
The Huntington Beach, CA, native has had multiple coaching jobs before coming into the Detroit Tigers system in 2022. At the college level, he coached for Irvine Valley College, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of New Mexico. He joined the Dodgers organization in 2017 where he would help them win an Arizona League Championship.
Despite being with the Tigers Triple AAA affiliate, the Toledo MudHens, Cappuccilli doesn’t believe it gives him a leg up coming to West Michigan. It’s an entirely new job.
“Most of (the Whitecaps players) I didn’t have relationships with beforehand because I was in Toledo,” Cappuccilli said. “I didn’t get the chance to see a lot of them play, just knew them in quick passings. This year I’m already enjoying spending more time with them.”
Cappuccilli did bring back Dan Ricabal from the 2023 staff to lead as the pitching coach again. A lot of new faces highlight the coaches part of the roster otherwise, with Fransisco Contreras as the hitting coach and Collin Murray also joining the pitching staff.
With this group of players and coaches Cappuccilli has helped assemble, the focus now moves to the most important part of baseball at the minor league level: development.
Whitecaps start 2024 with many new beginnings
Five of the Tigers’ top 30 prospects will start the season in West Michigan, with a few other players returning from last year’s team as well. It is crucial to help them move on to the next level with the skills they need to become Major League Baseball players,
“I think we need to create an environment where they can go compete,” Cappuccilli said. “Support them in their failures, because there are always moments with that in baseball. Be their biggest fan when they are successful and be able to have honest conversations with guys about some things we are not doing right that we could do better. Hopefully they will always know it’s coming from a good place.”
Many of his players already feel like he is a “players coach” who looks out for them day in and day out.
“I feel like us guys are just going to get along with (Cappuccilli) really well,” Whitecaps infielder Luke Gold said. “I think he knows when to push us and when to back off a little bit, so I think it’s going to be a good environment to work on our game while also trying to stay healthy and stay on the field.”
As the 15th manager in Whitecaps history, Cappuccilli seems to have his program moving in a good direction early on.
Despite the cold, West Michigan is starting to feel like home.
“The ballpark is beautiful,” Cappuccilli said. “Everyone talked about what a great place it was, it has lived up to the hype. I’m very impressed so far.”
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