Josh Thole

Joshua Michael Thole (pronounced toll-EE In November 2004, he signed a letter of intent to play college baseball in NCAA Division II for Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois.

Professional career New York Mets Minor leagues Thole was drafted by the New York Mets in the 13th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. He played the entire 2006 minor league season with the Rookie-Advanced Kingsport Mets, appearing in 36 games and batting .235 with one home run and 12 RBI. In 111 games that year, he would hit .300 with five home runs and 56 RBI. In 2009, Thole stated, "My throwing is still coming along." In his first major league at-bat, he singled to record his first major league hit. Thole would play 17 games for the Mets in 2009, batting .321 with 9 RBI. 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. On October 1, 2010, he hit a walk-off home run off Tyler Clippard to give the Mets a 2-1 win. Thole spent the entire season with the New York Mets as a catcher. He hit .268, drove in 40 runs and hit three home runs over 340 at bats. On June 1, 2012, Thole was reactivated and caught Johan Santana's no-hitter, the first in franchise history.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 17, 2012, the Mets traded Thole, R. A. Dickey, and Mike Nickeas to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, John Buck, and Wuilmer Becerra. 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. On March 24, Thole was reassigned to minor league camp and started the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He was recalled by the Blue Jays on June 7 when Henry Blanco was designated for assignment. 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 one home run and eight RBI in 45 games. 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.

After the signing of Russell Martin in the offseason, the Blue Jays entered 2015 spring training with three 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. On April 23, Thole was recalled to the Blue Jays when Dioner Navarro was placed on the disabled list. He was optioned back to Buffalo on June 2. On August 23, Thole was recalled from Buffalo. He played in 18 games in 2015, and batted .204 with two RBI. He signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Blue Jays on December 4.

Thole made the Opening Day roster for 2016, once again serving as R. A. Dickey's personal catcher. He hit his first home run of the season on April 5, in the Blue Jays 5–3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. After the Blue Jays reacquired Dioner Navarro from the Chicago White Sox on August 26, Thole's role with the team was brought into question. After catching Dickey's start on August 28, Thole was designated for assignment by Toronto, who hoped that he would go unclaimed off waivers and be released, and could be re-signed on September 1 after the Major League roster expansion. Thole elected free agency on August 30, and signed with the Blue Jays on August 31; thus maintaining his postseason eligibility. Thole played in 50 games for the Blue Jays in 2016, hitting .169 with one home run and seven RBI.

Arizona Diamondbacks On January 23, 2017, Thole signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He suffered a torn hamstring in a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs on March 8. On March 18, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo stated that Thole would likely require surgery and miss the entire 2017 season.

On January 11, 2018, Thole re–signed with Arizona on a minor league contract. He was released by the Diamondbacks organization on March 18.

New Britain Bees On May 29, 2018, Thole signed with the New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 17 games for the Bees, Thole hit .317/.425/.367 with no home runs and 10 RBI.

Detroit Tigers On June 21, 2018, Thole's contract was purchased by the Detroit Tigers organization. In 21 games for the Double–A Erie SeaWolves, hitting .238/.320/.302 with one home run and 10 RBI. Thole elected free agency following the season on November 2.

Los Angeles Dodgers On January 16, 2019, Thole signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Los Angeles Angels On July 12, 2019, Thole and Adam McCreery were traded to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for cash considerations. He became a free agent following the 2019 season.

On January 30, 2020, Thole signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees. Thole did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He became a free agent on November 2.