LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Josh Thole is slated to be the starting catcher this season, but if the Mets finally are going to be able to turn the franchise around, they need to find out just how good he is.
Will he develop into a reliable player on a team with realistic playoff aspirations — or not?
“We need to find that out,” general manager Sandy Alderson said yesterday after the Mets lost to the Braves, 6-4, at Champion Stadium. “Right now, he’s the starting catcher for us and I think we’re a first-division team.”
He has been winning fans in the clubhouse since he was called up to the Mets last June, and that has continued this spring. Yesterday, he caught Mike Pelfrey, who gave up one earned run in three innings.
And Pelfrey knows that if he is going to live up to expectations, he is probably going to need some help from Thole. Last year, he didn’t know what to expect, but his confidence in the young backstop is increasing quickly.
“When he first came up [in 2009], I thought he was just OK behind the plate,” Pelfrey said. “But when he came back last year, he wasn’t the same guy.”
There remain limitations in his game that likely won’t go away, but manager Terry Collins is willing to live with those and believes many other teams would, as well.
“Does he have a cannon like Ivan Rodriguez?” Collins said. “No. But he does everything you need to do defensively to succeed. And even though the power numbers aren’t there, you’re gonna look up and see him hit .295 and get on base. And no one works harder. Guys like that are always in demand.”
So far, Pelfrey has no complaints.
“He can hold his own,” Pelfrey said. “I remember late last year, he called a front-door slider to a righty, which I had never thrown. And it was in a game. I was surprised, but I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ And boom, it worked.”
What struck Pelfrey wasn’t so much that they wound up getting the batter out on the next pitch, but that Thole called it in the first place.
“I had always wanted to throw that pitch, but for him to call it and have faith that it was going to work says a lot,” Pelfrey said. “You need to have that relationship and when you work like we do, it definitely makes you a better pitcher. I enjoy pitching to him.”
But he remains a work in progress.
“I’m just trying to gain their trust,” Thole said. “That’s what older catchers have told me I have to do. I need to be confident and there can’t be a gray area when I’m dealing with a pitcher. When they feel like you know you’re doing, it helps a lot.”
He’s impressed Alderson this spring.
“He’s got a great rapport with the pitching staff and a terrific attitude,” Alderson said. “He’s a positive guy. I like what I’ve seen so far.”
* Collins also liked what he saw from Brad Emaus yesterday, who the Mets selected in the Rule 5 Draft from Toronto. He started at second and went 0-for-1 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. … Last year’s first-round pick, Matt Harvey, made his pro debut yesterday and tossed a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts as the Mets minor leaguers beat Italy 8-1.
Additional reporting by Joel Sherman.
dan.martin@nypost.com