The Mets clubhouse is a room full of disappointed people these days with the possible exception of one. Josh Thole isn't down about a season of unfulfilled expectations. He's having a blast. The 22-year-old is the team's lone September call-up thus far, one of the few top prospects who wasn't pressed into duty as the Mets suffered a slew of injuries. He called his debut game last Thursday "hands down the best experience I've ever had" and he did such a good job catching Pat Misch he was rewarded with another start yesterday against the Cubs. He didn't get to be part of another victory -- the Cubs won, 5-3 -- but Thole played well again. He had another two-hit game and threw out a would-be base-stealer. He showed the crowd of 38,759 why the Mets see him as part of their future.
Derrek Lee hit two homers and Aramis Ramirez belted one to power the Cubs. Lee's first homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, snapped a 2-2 tie and put Chicago ahead to stay. Down, 5-3, the Mets loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth before Carlos Marmol won a 10-pitch battle with Angel Pagan by getting him to fly out.
Mets starter Nelson Figueroa gave up a two-run home run to Ramirez in the fourth that put Chicago up, 2-1. The Mets knotted the score in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring infield single by Anderson Hernandez before Lee went deep in the fifth. Figueroa (2-4) allowed four runs on seven hits and walked two while recording eight strikeouts.
Cubs starter Rich Harden (9-8) had especially nasty stuff, fanning 10 Mets and allowing one earned run in five innings. All his strikeouts came on swings. The Mets whiffed a season-worst 13 times.
The Mets envision Thole as part of the plan for 2011, but his time could come sooner. The club figures to look at catchers this offseason and manager Jerry Manuel said the kid from tiny Breese, Ill., a town of about 4,000, could play his way into the picture.
"I've been very impressed," he said. "Probably starting next we'll play him some back-to-back days and see how he fares in those. He threw a runner out today. His game-calling -- he stayed with the plan. And I haven't seen too many swings and misses -- for a young player, that's a real good sign.
"Everybody's got a shot. Once you're in the big leagues everybody's got a chance. There's no question."
After Kosuke Fukudome drew a one-out walk, Thole threw him out easily trying to steal second.
He went from playing first base to becoming a full-time catcher last May and was batting .328 with 46 RBI in 103 games for Double-A Binghamton when he got the surprise call-up. He's made a big jump look easy.
"It's the speed of the game, it's slowing the game down," he said.
Thole's goal for the rest of the month is to learn the league. He's been working with Brian Schneider and coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and volunteering to catch bullpen sessions so he can build a rapport with some of the Mets' young arms. He won't think about playing his way onto next season's roster because it "could ruin a guy's career if they think too far ahead," he said.
3 Carlos Beltran could make his first appearance with the Mets since June 21 on Tuesday against Florida. Beltran, on the disabled list with a bone bruise under his right knee, is on a rehab assignment with the Class-A Brooklyn Cyclones. Last night, he played nine innings in center field, and won the game with an RBI single to beat Lowell in the bottom of the ninth, 4-3. He is expected to play nine innings again tonight.
3 Right-hander John Maine, on the DL since early June with weakness in his shoulder, made a rehab start for Class-A St. Lucie against Palm Beach last night and is expected back in New York today. He threw four innings and allowed no runs on two hits while walking one with six strikeouts on 58 pitches.
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