After 12-game hitting streak, Mets G.M. asked about a Tim Tebow September MLB call-up
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
Tim Tebow is playing much better than anyone expected in Advanced-A ball with the St. Lucie Mets.
After he extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Friday, Tebow is hitting .321, slugging .556 and has tallied 11 RBIs. He’s also only struck out nine times in 53 at-bats since being called up. That’s what we like to call improvement. He seems to be seeing the ball well and starting to get in a groove at the plate. This was expected, because he hadn’t played since high school.
Tebow really made headlines Thursday night, when he hit a walk-off opposite-field home run to give his team a 5-4 win.
After his recent success at the plate, Mets’ G.M. Sandy Alderson was asked about a September call-up when the rosters expand to 40.
“Never crossed my mind until about 10 days ago when somebody said it was likely to happen,” Alderson told reporters Friday, via ESPN.
“I don’t foresee that kind of scenario.”
But just because Alderson doesn’t “foresee” it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. In fact, if Tebow keeps hitting the way he is currently, he’ll likely get promoted to Double-A at some point even before September. But going from Advanced-A to the show seems like a stretch at this point.
The Mets are seven games below .500 and sitting in fourth place (out of five) in the National League East standings. Should this continue, a potential Tebow call-up would give the big league team a shot in the arm with respect to attendance and interest.
Tebow’s goal to make it to the major leagues is a race against time. Since this is his first full season in the minor leagues at age 29, several of his teammates and others around pro ball are at his level having his success (or more) in their early-to-mid 20s. For example, based on age alone — and not comparing talent — Mike Trout is just 25, and Bryce Harper is just 24. Both are not even in the prime of their careers, and they are full-fledged superstars.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
