Mets catcher of the future Josh Thole drilled a 3-1 pitch off Tyler Clippard for a walk-off homer to give the team a 2-1 victory in 10 innings tonight. The home run was Thole’s third of the season.
It was great to see Tyler Clippard get burned by the Mets. Most Met fans remember that Subway Series game a while ago now, when Clippard threw six innings of one run ball in his Major League debut. Well, we finally got you back, Tyler.
Thole seems to have a bright future for the Metropolitans. He has settled in nicely behind the dish and works well with most of the pitchers. Normally a singles hitter, he has shown shown pop over this final stretch of the season, lacing an RBI double into right center last night and crushing a homer to right field tonight.
I’m curious to see how he handles being an everyday catcher. He was lucky to learn behind two veterans in Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco. Barajas is now in LA (where he tore it up this last month), and Blanco will be a free agent come season’s end.
Rumor has it that the Mets will look to resign Hank White to maybe another one-year deal. Despite his age, he is still a serviceable back-up, especially if Thole continues to improve his game. Blanco has served as a great role model for Josh and that will continue if Hank is back with the club in 2011.
Ike Davis added his 19th bomb of the year as well. Ike has had a very promising rookie campaign, and will look to improve his consistency and plate discipline in the offseason to to make him even more of an offensive threat.
Kudos to Pat Misch, who struck out 10 batters in eight innings tonight—still not good enough for his first win of the season.
I was glad to see Thole’s late-inning heroics, even though there are only now two games left to play. This team needs some heart moving forward, and it was great to see some tonight.
Tonight’s performance may be an indicator of what we see from the Mets next year. Solid pitching, but once again a struggle offensively. But if the final result is a victory, I don’t care how they earn it, as long as it falls in the “W” column. Don’t expect too much change from the roster, Met fans, because it looks like our club will be strapped financially.
Way to go Josh! I’m looking forward to a big year from you next season.
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