Manuel Keeps Thole: Turner Sent Down In Ollie’s Return

Beyond popular belief, it was actually Justin Turner who was sent back to AAA-Buffalo instead of Josh Thole after the conclusion of last night’s game.

With the return of Oliver Perez now a reality, and the news that Ollie will be joining the bullpen as a lefty specialist, Jerry Manuel had a difficult decision but actually did something right in keeping Thole over Turner.

I am very happy with Manuel’s decision here as Josh Thole will help the team way more than Turner will. The rumor around town was that Thole was going to be sent down because the Mets have been juggling three catchers for a while now.

The reason the Mets could have kept Turner instead is that he would have been a backup infielder for Reyes and Castillo along with David Wright as well, as Turner has some experience playing third base down in the minors.

Also, not only is Josh Thole staying, he might be seeing more playing time, tweets Andy Martino of the NY Daily News. Thole is likely to start tomorrow.

This is even more good news as Josh Thole is hitting well since returning to the majors and Rod Barajas has been hitting poorly for nearly two months now, basically becoming an automatic out.