Detroit Tigers draft pick Micheal Thomas talks to Wildcat Blue Nation

Kentucky Wildcats catcher Micheal Thomas, a 22nd round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers, spoke to Wildcat Blue Nation on June 19th.

Thomas was assigned to the GCL Tigers.

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Daniel Solzman: Micheal, thanks for joining Wildcat Blue Nation today. How are things treating you in Florida?

Micheal Thomas: They’re going pretty well so far. Just some workouts and we’ve played one exhibition game against the Yankees so we really haven’t done much. It’s been going good.

Daniel Solzman: How did you react when you found out you were drafted in the 22nd round?

Micheal Thomas: I was excited. It’s kind of cool to see. But in the end, all the hard work paid off and it’s something that I really wanted to do. It’s pretty gratifying and I was just really excited to get the opportunity.

Daniel Solzman: When did you find out that the Detroit Tigers had an interest in you?

Micheal Thomas: I talked to the area scout probably a month left in the season. Just talking about some stuff I filled out on a questionnaire and kind of some information (inaudible) for them. Other than that, I didn’t know how much interest there really was. I knew it was something better than nothing.

Daniel Solzman: In what ways has Coach Gary Henderson prepared you for the next level?

Micheal Thomas: I think he’s just given me the ability to really think the game through. To see the game at a higher level mentally than maybe some players do. I feel that having a relationship and the closeness with being a catcher and him being a pitching coach as well is really going to help me down the road when it comes to calling my own games especially since he did give me some abilities to call some of my own pitches or see what I thought. Having that trust, I think to be able to do that in college, especially under somebody like him, makes things a lot easier.

Daniel Solzman: Last summer, you played in the Alaska Collegiate League and earned All-Star honors. How warm did it get when you were there?

Micheal Thomas: The hottest was in Fairbanks. It was like 90 degrees.

Daniel Solzman: Who was your favorite player growing up?

Micheal Thomas: Growing up, my favorite player—I’d probably say Manny Ramirez.

Daniel Solzman: You played behind Luke Maile and Michael Williams before taking over as the everyday catcher during the 2013 campaign. What did you learn from them as a catcher?

Micheal Thomas: That you’re going to mistakes and you kind of have to take with a grain of salt and move on cause no baseball player’s perfect. Nobody’s going to go through their career and not make an error. I think that was something Mike taught me a lot more than Luke did. As far as Luke, Luke just had a way of playing that you don’t see in most guys throughout your life. He brought a different way of thinking about things, a different way of approaching different situations that you would have never even thought about or didn’t even know that they were going to happen. It was definitely cool to see that aspect and be prepared for every possible situation or have the previous mindset that someone previously thought about and tried to figure something out. They are both great guys and I took some things skill-wise from each of them but I think the ability of those two to both be great teammates and help out players, especially me, throughout their career is one thing I took from them.

Daniel Solzman: Were you surprised at all by the year that A.J. Reed put up this season with the Cats?

Micheal Thomas: Not at all. Not the least bit at all.

Daniel Solzman: Thanks again for joining us.

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