Josh Thole, 2K11?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Hey, third Mets catcher to pull this off this season! Bet that's some kind of record.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM, NICKEAS!

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Poor Nickeas doesn't stand a chance. It's virtually impossible to hit one out from the end of the bench.

Thole's performance since coming up has been better than I had anticipated. His defence is far better than reports had led me to expect and he seems to be a steady, line drive hitter with occassional pop. Josh Tole has won me over.

[Zvon]

I love Thole.
It seems he gets the barrel of the bat on the ball almost every time he hits it.
Or just any part of his bat, which after this season I'll certainly settle for. He connects.
I've been high on this guy for awhile now and last nights walk off didn't hurt.
If he's an adequate catcher and he hits the way I think he will he'll do us fine behind the plate.
And he's coming cheap.
Over a whole MLB season I can only hope he holds up and shows consistency at the plate.
And I think he deserves the chance show if he can do that or not.

I'd rather the Mets put some brains behind how they spend their money for a change and go get what we really and obviously need.

[Zvon]

Willets Point wrote: Thole Cow!

patent that WP

[Willets Point]

Zvon wrote: Willets Point wrote: Thole Cow! patent that WP

Unfortunately I hear Phil Rizzuto in my head.

[Frayed Knot]

One thing that does remain to be seen is his hitting against LHP.
Well under .200 to date (.167/.211/.222 - although 36 ABs isn't much of a sample size so far) while over .300 vs RHPs.
Not sure if his minor league splits were as stark.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

One thing that does remain to be seen is his hitting against LHP. Well under .200 to date (.167/.211/.222 - although 36 ABs isn't much of a sample size so far) while over .300 vs RHPs. Not sure if his minor league splits were as stark.

According to The Hardball Times Josh Thole's career minor league splits (1314 total at bats) look good.*
Thole's minor league career vs. RH: .284/.375/.378
Thole's minor league career vs. LH: .317/.399/.376

Thole is just a good contact hitter. So it doesn't seem to matter much whether the pitcher is a righty or a lefty.


*Unfortunately, they didn't break down how many of those at bats were against left handed pitching, which does weaken the point somewhat.

[Frayed Knot]

Probably less platooning in the minors so I'm sure the ABs aren't nearly as lopsided as are his Jerry-influenced ML ABs.

Somewhat less power hitting lefty according to those (not that there's going to be a lot either way) but otherwise not bad at all.

[MFS62]

After last night's game, Jerry was interviewed on WFAN and said that from what they've seen of the improvement in Thole's swing while he's been up with the big league club, Thole hitting 15 home runs next year wouldn't surprise him.

Later

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Thole looks like a 2-3 WAR kinda player to me. That's top third in baseball most years.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: He's a player. I felt pretty good about Muffy heading into 09 though.

Bam.

Today Tracky mentioned that Niese is the latest pitcher to salute Paulino's game-calling. Thole meantime isn't hitting for shit either.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, a pitcher turning the corner who specifically salutes the new guy's gamecalling --- it's not hard to read between the lines and find an indictment of the other guy.

I'm just hoping some of what Paulino is bringing is rubbing off on the guy. It must be hard to step into a lineup as a young catcher, figuring out how to run a staff while figuring out how to stay alive against big-league pitchin', and it strikes me that most intern as a backup first.

[smg58]

Thole's had 6 walks and 0 strikeouts over his last 19 plate appearances. The bad news is that he has no hits in that stretch, but hopefully he's starting to revert back to the patient contact hitter he was a year ago, in which case the hits will come.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I'm not sure patience has been the problem; there's been no significant change in his swing-choice numbers. He's just been missing more/making more weak contact. (More strikeouts, less contact, lower BABIP... maybe a timing thing?)

[G-Fafif]

Maybe this Josh's batting practice jersey is broken.