PORT ST. LUCIE — Josh Thole is modest enough to admit he’s a work in progress behind the plate, but hopes the Mets can live with those growing pains.
The 24-year-old former first baseman is the Mets’ No. 1 catcher, a position he earned last season through strong work ethic and a few timely hits. Thole batted .277 with three homers and 17 RBIs over 73 games, and earned the respect of his pitching staff while behind the plate.
“I love throwing to him,” R.A. Dickey said yesterday. “He works his tail off — blocking balls and all that stuff.”
Thole, who was summoned to the Mets last June after beginning the season at Triple-A Buffalo, watched the team trade catcher Rod Barajas in August before letting veteran Henry Blanco walk in the offseason. The Mets signed Ronny Paulino during the winter meetings as an insurance policy (the former Marlins catcher still has not reported to camp because of visa problems in the Dominican Republic), but view Thole as part of their future.
Knowing he was headed toward an increased workload this season, Thole skipped winter ball and devoted his offseason to conditioning.
“I felt last year that winter ball was a great thing for me, but I didn’t get the [physical] training I should have gotten,” Thole said. “I trained for three weeks, and that’s not going to get you ready for a big league season. This year I was able to spend 3-4 hours a day in the gym, hitting and throwing, and I was fortunate enough to do that.”
Thole didn’t become a regular catcher until three years ago, after arriving in the Mets’ minor league system as a first baseman. The Mets selected him in the 13th round of the 2005 amateur draft.
“Josh Thole has really improved as a defensive catcher,” manager Terry Collins said. “I saw him last spring for the first time, and the advancement he made from the start of the season to when he got called up was phenomenal.
“I saw him catch R.A. Dickey one night and I said, ‘You cannot tell me this guy hasn’t been a catcher his whole life, the way he caught that [knuckleball].’ He caught him comfortably. He blocked balls, he handled them. I think the handling of a pitching staff — this pitching staff in particular — makes him an everyday guy.”
Given the choice of extra time in the batting cage or working in the bullpen with a pitcher, Thole would take the latter.
“Catching takes precedence over hitting, any day of the week,” Thole said. “I know if I don’t hit, it can be a short-lived career for sure. But there is a point if I am good with the staff and we are on the same page. . . . I care about all these guys, so that’s kind of the step I’ve been taking, to really get on a personal level with them all.”
Dickey said Thole has nothing to prove to him.
“I have so much experience with him, it’s like second nature throwing to him,” Dickey said. “He knows my language and what I expect and how to communicate, and with [Mike] Pelfrey as well. With some of the new guys it takes some time. Even if [Chris] Capuano and Chris Young and some of the new guys who are throwing to him say they are comfortable, I think there is a real bond that develops over the course of the spring.”