10
2012
It’s Now Or Never For Josh Thole
An article by Hojo's Mojo
David Lennon reports in Newsday, that Josh Thole has worked intensely with Mets catching coordinator Bob Natal this offseason in an effort to prevent a recurrence of the defensive issues that plagued him in 2011.
“I’m getting to a point where we’re not in a trial-and-error period anymore,” Thole said. “It is what it is. If I don’t catch well over the course of this year, it will be a matter of who’s next, they’ll keep the line moving, and I can’t have that.”
“If things aren’t going well, they’re not just going to keep waiting on you. You have to take the bull by the horns and do it yourself. There’s going to be no ‘he’s young — give him time.’ Those days are over. It’s time to get it done now. I’ve got to keep going forward.”
It sounds like Thole understands it’s do or die time and that if he wants to keep his hold on the starting catcher’s job he needs to amp up his performance this season in a big way.
Thole’s 16 passed balls last season were the most in the National League and while the majority came while catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, he still made many other miscues that did not appear in the boxscores according to Lennon.
Thole has been working “intensively with Mets catching coordinator Bob Natal” this offseason, and is now in St. Lucie, two weeks early where he will work with new bench coach Bob Geren, a former major-league catcher.
He told Lennon that he is more confident than ever about his ability behind the plate.
“I thought I was really prepared last year coming into spring training, and compared to the way I feel right now, it’s almost like I wasn’t even close,” Thole said. “It’s a complete 180.”
I hope he makes it, I really like his makeup and attitude.It
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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Thole deserves this year to see what he really can offer. He had a promising 2010 season and sophomore slumps are not unheard of. One good year, one bad year and this is the clincher.
Agreed.
Gotta love his work ethic. If that counted for anything, he and Murph would be stars.
Since we have no better option going into this season – and finances being the way they are – Thole will be giving the opportunity for a good long look. I’m rooting for him.
the better options I think is key. Not much on the FA market other than retreads, journeymen and backups, so I assume given where the team stands overall, they decided to give Thole the chance to prove he deserves it. If he doe4sn’t show it this year, they will move on.
Not like Thole vs. buck (a guy they could have had I assume for a few million more) was going to make that much difference this year.
What I would have loved to see the FO do though is somehow trade for a promising young C prospect that was close to ready 9if not good to go) just in case.
Unless one of the lower level guys steps up big time there are still no options vaguely on the horizon, so if thole busts it will be a string of stop gaps like Rob Johnson most likely.
Yeah, but what would that trade have cost us for that almost-ready-catcher-prospect?
Probably could have been done if we were willing to trade one of our better prospects. They didn’t and I can only assume – if they had looked into it – they didn’t want to part with what it would have cost.
Probably Niese for d’anaurd or Familia and Flores for Grandall. I would have done the first, not the second.
SD NYY SF and Toronto have a great situation at catcher right now. We should be looking at how we could help them. SF needs MI, Toronto and SD are more in accumulation mode right now and the NYY needs haven’t yet come to light since trading Montero.
with a bit of good fortune like with SF last year some of our pen and or Wright and who knows maybe even Santana (along with a substantial amount of cash) could produce a bonafide catcher in AA with 4 years or so of pro baseball catching experience.
Thole will be improved this year but he was working all last off season with the Met catching instructor too. Players are supposed to have the technique of their position down when they get up here, not still be in a work in progress mode 3 years after they arrive.
Dickey may or may not have caused Thole the most PB (I’d love to see a breakdown) but PB’s are often confused with WP’s by the scorer and Parnell and Gee led the team in those.
If Thole weren’t to have a breakout season it may cause more of an effort to upgrade but that’s not entirely dependent on us. The market may just not be realistic and thre is every chance that Thole will be counted on yet again anyway in 2013. He definitely will at least as a backup for sure cause we don’t have anyone else.
Our best two prospects are in A+ (Cordero) and A- (Maron) Pena could take a huge step up and might even be pushed to AA but he’s still miles away although with any luck…….
Still and all Josh will still have his chances come 2013 even with a trade and a non standout season this year.
Hopefully this will be his breakout year. he is really trying hard so we have to give him the year to see how he does.
Its not like he has much competition anyway right now.
I dont think there’s another team with a worse track record than the Mets when it comes to developing catchers. Their best ones; Piazza, Carter, Grote, Stearns were all trades. Only Hundley, one catcher in 50 years. Can you get any worse?
I coulnt sterns. IMO, if they trade prospects that is just as good as drafting them initially. Still takes scouting and smart player evaluation skills.
I honestly can’t recall, but did Grote come over via trade as a minor league guy, or was he already in the majors?
It was early in his career like second or third year. I get your point on Stearns.
Stearns came here for Tug McGraw and Don Hahn but was basically developed by us and it was evaluation and scouting as well as foresight that has to be credited in providing us with a damn good catcher.
That view toward providing solutions ahead of time has been mysteriously absent around here for a long long time.
I know a lot is made out of Tholes ability to throw runners out…myself, I believe a lot of those results as because of the pitching staff and not because Thole is horrible. I’d also say that Thole got into a ton of bad habits catching RAD, I saw improvements as the season went on, but there is still much room for improvement.
My biggest concerns with Thole is; how he receives the ball and the confidence the staff has in Thole as a catcher.
The way the catcher catches and frames the ball can make a big difference between a ball or a strike. If Thole can learn to expand the K-Zone (instead of shrinking it) it will help cut down on pitch counts, shorten innings, reduce walks and help eliminate those bad 3-1 fastballs down the middle of the plate.
As a guy who still plays and pitches, I can tell you that as a pitcher, you need confidence in your catcher or you’re not going to be effective. I could give plenty of examples, but the one story I’d tell is…last year we added a new catcher, he was young, strong and very athletic. Our first game together, we struggled the first couple of innings (my manager said he almost pulled my early) my new catcher didn’t know me or my tendencies or what makes me successful. I’m the type of pitcher who likes to let the catcher call the game and I’d focus on executing the pitchers. I gave the kid a little time before I took over calling the game, but surprisingly, the kid learned quickly and he took over calling again and WE pitched a complete game while giving up only two runs (in a metal bat league with the poor D my team has, that’s saying something)
This is the level of comfort that Thole needs to get with the staff. Not every catcher and pitcher can work well together, but Thole needs to earn the confidence of the staff or he’ll never be successful.
I agree about most times runners steal on the pitcher, not the catcher. Certainly has to be the case with a guy like Pelf.
Thole was around 42% before 2011. That’s a great number. He regressed all around, but after 2010 there was a lot to be hopeful about. This year could make his career. Or break it.
That’s a great point USMF. “WE” pitched. Very well said.
One very sad thing is that every year our pitchers are pitching to a new catcher or two. That relationship never even gets started or gets to continue if it does.
And pitching baseball in a metal bat league? Ugh. One word. Kevlar.
I pitched in two leagues last year…one wood and the other metal.
I love pitching to wood (that sounds dirty for some reason), I have a slider and 2 two seam FB that cuts in…I broke a lot of wood bats…and gave up a lot of bloop hits of the handle or the end of the bat…
Financial woes aside, I hope that this team surprises us like the ’07 Giants. The big problem is David Wright is our Eli Manning. Oy vey!
Deebo, you didn’t go to Marist College did you? Knew a “Deebo” that was a big Mets fan…
Sorry Salty the only thing I know about Marist is Rik Smits (I think, lol).
That is true he funded the new basketball court that was build right before I got there in the nineties.
he appears to have allowed himself to get in poorer physical shape. Tha is a no no for a young player. Last year he seemed a lot heavier to me. And it was not muscle.
I too, wish more would have put into the catching position this off season. While the NY Tabloid Post has a statement about ‘pretty much being done’ that doesn’t mean that absolutely NOTHING will be done from here on out, so here’s hoping they pick up a Vet.