Josh Thole
| Josh Thole | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Thole with the Toronto Blue Jays
|
|||
| Toronto Blue Jays – No. 22 | |||
| Catcher | |||
| Born: October 28, 1986 Breese, Illinois |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 3, 2009 for the New York Mets | |||
| MLB statistics (through 2015 season) |
|||
| Batting average | .249 | ||
| Hits | 303 | ||
| Home runs | 8 | ||
| Runs batted in | 104 | ||
| Teams | |||
|
|||
Joshua Michael Thole (pronounced toll-EE[1]) (born October 28, 1986) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball.
Contents
Early years[edit]
Thole grew up in Breese, Illinois, and attended Mater Dei High school.[2]
Professional career[edit]
Thole was drafted by the New York Mets in the 13th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.[2] In Double-A Binghamton, Thole established himself as a solid singles hitter.[2]
New York Mets (2009-2012)[edit]
After viewing Thole in the 2009 spring training, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen "gushed" about Thole's catcher skills.[1] In 2009, Thole stated, "My throwing is still coming along."[2] On August 31, 2009, Thole was called up to the major leagues.[3] In his first major league at-bat, he singled to record his first major league hit.
After spending much of the 2010 season in Triple-A Buffalo, Thole was called up to the Mets in June.[4] On July 20, 2010, Thole hit his first major league home run, a solo homer, off of Barry Enright in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field to give the Mets their first run of the game (3-1).[5] They would lose that game 3-2.[5] On October 1, 2010, he hit a walk-off home run off Tyler Clippard to give the Mets a 2-1 win.[6]
Thole spent the entire season with the New York Mets as a catcher. He hit .268, drove in 40 runs and hit 3 home runs over 340 at bats.
Thole broke camp with the Mets as their starting catcher. On May 9, 2012, Thole was placed on the seven-day disabled list after suffering a concussion in a plate collision with Phillies first baseman Ty Wigginton on May 7.[7] On June 1, 2012, Thole was reactivated and caught Johan Santana's no-hitter; becoming the first Mets catcher to participate in a no-hitter.
Toronto Blue Jays (2013–present)[edit]
On December 17, 2012, the Mets traded Thole, R.A. Dickey, and Mike Nickeas to the Toronto Blue Jays for Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, John Buck, and Wuilmer Becerra.[8] On January 18, 2013, the Blue Jays announced that arbitration with Thole had been avoided by signing him to a two-year contract worth $2.5 million, with a club option for the 2015 season at $1.75 million.[9] On March 24, Thole was reassigned to minor league camp and started the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.[10] He was recalled by the Blue Jays on June 7 when Henry Blanco was designated for assignment.[11] Thole made his Blue Jays debut in the 16th inning of an 18 inning win against the Texas Rangers on June 8, going 0-2 at the plate. He finished the 2013 season batting just .175 with 1 home run and 8 RBI in 45 games.[12] Thole began the 2014 season in Toronto, as R.A. Dickey's personal catcher. He improved upon his results from 2013, finishing 2014 with a batting average of .252 with 7 RBI in 56 games played.[12] On November 1, the Blue Jays picked up Thole's $1.75 million option for the 2015 season.[13]
After the signing of Russell Martin in the offseason, the Blue Jays entered 2015 spring training with 3 catchers on their roster. Martin began catching R.A. Dickey early in camp, and supplanted Thole as his personal catcher. On March 31, Thole was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.[14] On April 23, Thole was recalled to the Blue Jays when Dioner Navarro was placed on the disabled list.[15] He was optioned back to Buffalo on June 2.[16] On August 23, Thole was recalled from Buffalo.[17] He played in 18 games in 2015, and batted .204 with 2 RBI.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Noble, Marty (August 31, 2009). "Mets may wait a week to expand roster; Thole likely to lead callups when Minors season ends". MLB.com. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Rubin, Adam (August 22, 2009). "Exclusive: September calls". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ^ Rubin, Adam (August 31, 2009). "Thole is Colorado-bound, Beltran closer". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ^ Perkins, Owen (September 3, 2009). "Misch records first MLB win as Mets roll; Bats bang 16 hits, including the first two of Thole's career". MLB.com. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
- ^ a b Sielski, Mike (July 22, 2010). "Thole Is Missing His First Home-Run Ball". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ Kilgore, Adam (October 2, 2010). "Washington Nationals lose to New York Mets on Josh Thole's home run in 10th". Washington Post.
- ^ "Thole on seven-day DL with concussion". Mets.com. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ "Dickey trade to Blue Jays official". foxsports.com. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ^ "Blue Jays avoid arbitration with Happ, Bonifacio, Thole". TSN.ca. January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ Lott, John (March 24, 2013). "Blue Jays pick Henry Blanco over Josh Thole for backup catcher’s job". Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ^ "Blue Jays designate Blanco; recall Thole, LaRoche". TSN.ca. June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Josh Thole Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
- ^ Short, D.J. (November 1, 2014). "Blue Jays pick up option on Josh Thole; decline on Justin Smoak, Brandon Morrow, Dustin McGowan". hardballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ^ Davidi, Shi (March 31, 2015). "Blue Jays roster takes shape, minus bullpen". Sportsnet. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- ^ "Catcher A.J. Jimenez promoted to Bisons". Buffalo Bisons. April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ^ Davidi, Shi (June 2, 2015). "Blue Jays to activate Navarro from disabled list". Sportsnet. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
- ^ "Blue Jays recall Josh Thole, option Matt Hague to triple-A". Sportsnet. August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
External links[edit]
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- 1986 births
- Living people
- Baseball players from Illinois
- Major League Baseball catchers
- New York Mets players
- Toronto Blue Jays players
- Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
- Gulf Coast Mets players
- Kingsport Mets players
- Savannah Sand Gnats players
- St. Lucie Mets players
- Binghamton Mets players
- Leones del Caracas players