R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole's relationship forged over three seasons with the Mets and continued the past two years with the Blue Jays.STEPHEN LAM/Reuters
R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole have been inseparable the past few Major League Baseball seasons. When Dickey, the knuckleball-pitching specialist, is on the mound, chances are Thole, the knuckleball-catching specialist, is behind the plate.
It was a relationship forged over three seasons in New York with the Mets and has continued the past two years in Toronto with the Blue Jays.
When Dickey was traded to Toronto following his 2012 Cy Young Award-winning season with the Mets, Thole was included in the package that came to the Blue Jays.
To Dickey, Thole is like the security blanket that Linus stubbornly clings to in the old Peanuts comic strip. If Thole had of been at Dickey's wedding, he would have probably caught the bouquet.
"I've thrown 75-80 per cent of my starts since 2010 to Josh Thole and I love him like a brother," Dickey said unabashedly on Friday.
And therein lies the dilemma facing the Blue Jays as they look ahead to the 2015 season with a retooled roster that could see as many as six newcomers in the starting lineup come opening day in April.
The Blue Jays have a logjam at catcher and the question remains, who is going to catch Dickey?
There is no question who the everyday catcher will be in 2015. That was etched in stone in November when the Blue Jays dusted off their chequebook and signed Canadian Russell Martin to a lucrative, five-year, $82-million (U.S.) free-agent contract, thrusting Dioner Navarro, last year's regular and a useful hitter, into the backup role.
Thole also remains in the mix, but just barely – his credentials as Dickey's catching companion are his sole remaining lifeline.
But even that claim is now in jeopardy with Martin's declaration that he sees no reason why he won't be able to learn to catch Dickey's tricky floaters come spring training, which begins next month in Florida.
If Martin is able to knuckle down and make good on his promise, that would allow Toronto to keep his dangerous power bat in the lineup during the coming season with more regularity.
It would also allow manager John Gibbons some added flexibility with a 25-man roster that was no longer burdened by the presence of three catchers.
But Dickey is a valuable asset to the pitching staff as his 14-13 record, 34 starts and 215-innings pitched over the course of the 2014 season would attest.
And keeping him a happy camper is also paramount to a Blue Jays' squad intent on landing a playoff spot this coming season, something that has not occurred since 1993.
Martin has very little history catching the unpredictable nature of the knuckleball, and Dickey, in Toronto on Friday to help kick off the Blue Jays' cross-country winter tour promotion, said there is plenty of work to do.
"Nothing's going to replace time spent together," Dickey said. "And so, I think from the get-go we're going to probably be spending a lot of time on the side, bullpens, playing catch, so that he can get a feel for what that pitch does and see if he feels like it's something he can do every day that I pitch. That's 34 starts."
Dickey said trying to break-in a new personal knuckleball catcher takes both time and patience and is not every catcher's cup of tea.
"I'm with Josh now, like he doesn't even have to put down a sign," Dickey said. "I can go a whole game without him flashing one sign. That's remarkable. And to get to that place with another person is going to be a real challenge, but it's not that it can't be done.
"Russell just needs to get repetitions. He's an incredible athlete and so guys that are good athletes, they've got to have good hand-eye co-ordination, which he possesses. They usually have, not an easy time, but a better chance of doing it well."
Along with Martin, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos traded for Josh Donaldson, the highly-regarded third baseman from the Oakland A's, as well as Canadian Michael Saunders, who brings both speed and quality defence to left field.