Josh Thole Drop of Sunshine

"Great approach, great makeup, I could see him lasting in the big leagues for a long time... almost a Darrin Fletcher, part two."

over 2 years ago twon8 12 comments 0 recs |

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There are alot of questions with Thole. First, he hits for no power. Second, his defense is not major league ready. Then you look at the avg. .340 against double A pitching. Not
bad but I dont see him doing that at the major league level. He might hit .290 to .310 but with zero homerun power. So basically this is a Daniel Murphy type with less power and defensive uncertainties.

by mets4886 on Jul 2, 2009 11:06 AM EDT reply actions

Very similar sounding to Daniel Murphy

However, Murphy is an average or worse defender at LF and 1B, both positions that require above average offense. Josh Thole is at a position typically full of below average offensive players, which makes him more valuable.

by TheBigStapler on Jul 2, 2009 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn't say he has NO power

Luis Castillo and Juan Pierre are examples of guys with no power. Thole’s got a scosche ;). He did hit five homers as a 21 year old in the FSL. That’s something that’s not nothing, and I mean that quite literally. I could see him spending most of his career as a single digit HR guy, but still closer to 10 than 0. And he has shown some pretty awesome gap power. 21 doubles already if I’m not mistaken. He also has more polished plate discipline than Murph does. He’s walked more than he’s struck out essentially every stop. Murph’s never really done that. And he was generally a bit older for his leagues.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jul 2, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions

And just to add

Murphy’s a LF/1B. Thole’s a catcher.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jul 2, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Of course

In the strictest sense of raw hitting ability, Murphy does have more pop than Thole, but relative to position, he has quite a bit less.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jul 2, 2009 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Could Thole possibly take advantage of Utley's corner?

Or is he more likely to just hit balls to left field?

by All Shook Down on Jul 2, 2009 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Excellent question that I wish I had the answer to

But sadly, I don’t. I would imagine he uses the whole field well, but as he learns to pull the ball with a bit more efficiency and intent, he might have the bat control to make that corner his bitch.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jul 2, 2009 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions