Not sure if this is something anyone else noticed or something that even merits a blog post, but Josh Thole seems to have put his early season struggles behind him. He’s up to a .254/.345/.322 line, so it’s not as if he’s the second coming of Mike Piazza, but he’s now well within the range of respectability for catchers — especially 24-year-old catchers.

His defense hasn’t been stellar behind the plate this year, but Thole now has about a full season’s worth of Major League action on his resume, in which he has posted a solid .273/.352/.352 line.

Plus Thole hits left-handed and hits righties well, making him a valuable part of any catching platoon. Mets catchers — primarily Thole and folk-hero Ronny Paulino — have combined for sixth-best in the NL in OPS in 2011.