Jerry Del Priore
After a year away from professional baseball, former New York Mets catcher Josh Thole has resurfaced with the New Britain Bess of the independent Atlantic League.
This will be the Breese, Illinois, native’s 13th season of pro ball and first in the Atlantic league.
Thole last played in 2016 with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he appeared in 50 tilts with a home run and seven RBI in 118 at-bats.
Thole, 31, started his career with the Mets after they plucked him in the 13th round of the 2005 MLB amateur draft. He played five seasons in New York’s farm system before making his major league debut on September 3rd, 2009 at the age of 22.
Thole spent four years in the big leagues with the Mets, including two seasons as their starting catcher in 2011 and 2012. New York then traded him to the Toronto in 2013 in a package deal that included Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey for fireballer Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis D’Arnaud.
The six-foot-one receiver would then spend four campaigns in Toronto. Overall, in 478 career Major League games over eight campaigns, he posted a .242 batting average with 65 extra base hits, 111 RBI, and 99 runs scored.
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