NEW YORK – Tim Tebow is about to make his Major League debut. The former quarterback turned baseball minor leaguer has caught fire with the Columbia Fireflies in Single-A, earning a call up to the big club in New York.
“Tim has been a revelation in the minors the last few weeks, while we have really struggled to score up here in New York,” said Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. “So I hope he can help us with the bat. A lot of our problems have come from injuries, and that’s another area I hope Tim can help us, too.”
Tebow is hitting .237 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI through the first 21 games of his professional baseball career — the first baseball games he’s played since high school more than a decade ago — and has hit .354 over his past nine games. The 29-year old outfielder also helped a man who had a heart attack on a plane last summer and rushed to the rescue of a fan having a seizure in October in the Arizona Fall League.
“I don’t know if it’s likely, but if Tim could just lay hands on Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz and Seth Lugo and David Wright and Lucas Duda and Wilmer Flores and Travis d’Arnaud, and Asdrubal Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes and make them all healthy, it would really help this team,” said Alderson. “That would make him a great utility player. And, of course, if he could provide some offense off the bench, that would be outstanding, too.”
Mets manager Terry Collins says he sees Tebow developing into the rare “six-tool” player.
“Power, speed, glove, average, arm and making the lame walk … I think he has that potential,” said Collins. “But the only way we’ll know for sure is to call him up and see if he can produce.”
Alderson says he’s excited to see what Tebow can do.
“Whether some people like it or not, he’s been a success at everything he’s ever tried,” said the GM. “Good things just happen around him. He quarterback an NFL team to the playoffs. He won a national title at Florida. His influence at Florida even kept Aaron Hernandez from murdering anyone. The guy is a miracle worker and we’re glad to have him in our organization.”
