The Josh Thole Experiment

Young catchers are a fickle bunch. Usually they are great hitters who are in the position to help them get to the big leagues and then switch positions. Otherwise, they're incredible defensive players who you hope can get  you a few hits here and there.

Josh Thole is neither.

He hits marginally at best and defensively he's hardly a step up from Mike Nickeas.

Thole burst onto the Mets scene two years ago when he had a great Sepetember at the plate. That allowed him to extend his stay into last season and see if he's an everyday backstop. Turns out he's not.

In fact I'd go as far as to say he's a younger version of Charlie O'Brien from those dreaded days in the early 90's. At least Mackey Sasser had the potential of giving you a home run every once in a while, but Thole is lucky to reach the warning track.

Behind the plate, Thole doesn't have that great of an arm and if you want to argue that he calls a good game I present to you the stat sheet of the starting pitchers for the Mets last year.So the Mets find themselves in a familiar place: catcher purgatory.

This state usually last for 4-5 years where the Mets just kind of hope something improves. Since Gary Carter the Mets haven't really had any success behind the plate other than the trade for Mike Piazza. Without Piazza the Mets catching situation would look like a minor league all tournament team at best with Hundley being the lone exception for a season or two.

Because of holes in the pitching staff and the departure of Reyes at shortstop, Thole is getting another pass. But as runners continue to steal bases and his place in the lineup because more questionable I hope someone can shed the light on Thole.