Baseball In the Burrow: Tebow Time
On September 8th 2016, the New York Mets signed free agent outfielder Tim Tebow to a minor league contract worth $100,000. Most people at the time remembered Tebow as the former Heisman quarterback who was never able to make it in the NFL, where he played in five seasons with two different teams. After the 2012 season, Tebow was an NFL free agent, and there were not many teams willing to take a chance on him, so he decided to hang up the spikes, star in some t.v. commercials, and even write a book. Earlier last summer rumors began to speculate that Tim Tebow was beginning to make a comeback. What surprised the sports world though, was that the comeback would not be with a professional football team, instead he would be pursuing a career in professional baseball. Tebow announced that he would be holding a tryout and invited all 30 MLB teams to attend. He held the tryout on August 30th at the University of Southern California where he performed the standing jump and 60 yard dash along with hitting off a live MLB caliber pitcher and fielding grounders and pop flies in the outfield and making throws. The overall responses from the scouts in attendance varied. One scout said it was a complete waste of time, saying it was like watching an actor trying to play an MLB player. Another said that the tryout was better than he expected, that Tebow had very impressive power and was a tremendous athlete.
As a baseball player myself I have a basic knowledge of the fundamentals so, while I am no professional scout, I am able to look at certain players and see what they do well and what they need improvement on. While watching Tebow’s official scouting video on youtube there were a couple things that stood out to me: Tebow is an athlete, he ran a 6.6 second 60 yard dash which is not too shabby, especially considering he is 6'4 and 245 lbs. His actual baseball skills were not too bad considering he hadn't played in ten years. He had a quick, compact swing and certainly generated lots of power, even to the opposite field. Unfortunately, his swing lacked the smooth, effortless look of a major leaguer; and he had a difficult time adjusting to off-speed pitches. Also his defense was clearly a liability. He looked quite awkward in the outfield tracking fly balls, his throwing motion was extremely choppy, and his throws were inaccurate. With that being said I do feel that he possesses a lot of potential, especially with his bat, and clearly so do the New York Mets.
Shortly after being signed, Tebow was assigned to the Mets Gulf Coast League team, also known as the "rookie league" or the lowest rung on the minor league ladder. Tebow made a splash early hitting an opposite field home run in his first instructional league at bat but that has proved to be his biggest hit so far. From the GCL, he was promoted to the Arizona Fall League, an off season league featuring many of the game’s top prospects. There Tebow hit .194/.296/.242 in nineteen games, with three doubles, eight walks and twenty strikeouts in 71 trips to the plate. I know that stat-line looks abominable, but Tebow showcased his ability to improve as the fall progressed. In his first 11 games, he hit just .135 and was pulling the ball all the time and hitting grounders, but, during the final 8 games, he began to use the opposite field more and hit at a .280 clip.
The inevitable question is, will Tim Tebow ever play in a major league game? To me the answer is yes. Tebow has the basic skill set needed to survive in the minor leagues, but what I believe will push him to the show is his work ethic. In a recent interview he said, "I want to be the first one there, and the last one to leave. And that is all I can control." Of course, he may never be a Bo Jackson or Dion Sanders (2 of 7 players to ever play in both the NFL and MLB), but he possesses the mental attitude of a champion and a mentality that says never quit. And when it’s all said and done, you can teach the physical stuff; but to quote the late great Yogi Berra, "the game is 90% mental and the other half is physical." With that being said I think it is fair to say that Tim Tebow can be expected in a Mets uniform sometime in the next few years. As a Mets fan myself, who has grown to love Tebow, I can’t wait.
