Tim Tebow now has better numbers than some of baseball's most elite prospects
Tim Tebow has endured a lot of mockery and scorn over his pursuit of a career in Major League Baseball.
Since the day the former Heisman Trophy winner signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets, many “experts” have said Tebow has zero chance of making it. They said his baseball career was just a “publicity stunt” and called him “completely arrogant and selfish” for taking a roster spot from “deserving” players.
Well, the football-star-turned-broadcaster-turned-baseball-player is getting closer and closer to making a lot of people eat crow.
Tebow has been on a hot streak after a rough start with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
In fact, his numbers are now better than some “can’t miss” MLB prospects.
Heading into Thursday’s game, Tebow is hitting .250 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. He has a .328 on base percentage and a .429 slugging percentage, good for an OPS of .757.
Those stats aren’t spectacular, but they outshine the numbers of some of the Top 100 prospects in baseball.
Tebow’s OPS is better than Rangers minor leaguer Leody Taveras, ranked as the No. 31 prospect (.754); the Orioles’ Austin Hays, No. 35 (.640); the Yankees’ Estevan Florial, No. 41 (.706); the Blue Jays’ Anthony Alford, No. 43 (.358 in Triple-A); the Giants’ Heliot Ramos, No. 58 (.650); and the Marlins’ Monte Harrison, No. 66 (.743).
Those players are all outfielders, like Tebow, and almost all of them are playing in Double-A too.
His OPS is right around that of the No. 11 prospect, Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette (.760), whose “career-to-date points to a bright future as a perennial All-Star who could regularly compete for batting titles,” according to MiLB.com.
Yes, Tebow is much older at 30 than those top prospects, and his strikeout numbers are still rough (52 in 115 at-bats).
But he has shown that his major league dreams aren’t as far-fetched as the critics have claimed.
“Tim Tebow may be closer to flirting with a Major League call-up than some people may think,” wrote Nick Cole on SEC Country, saying the former Florida Gators and NFL quarterback could be “positioning himself to force the hands of the New York Mets on what is quickly becoming a ‘now or never’ decision on trying the 30-year-old outfielder at the big-league level.”
Count Mets general manager Sandy Alderson among those who believe Tebow will make it to the big leagues.
“Somebody asked me whether I think he’ll be a major league player at some point,” Alderson told reporters in February. “I think he will play in the major leagues. That’s my guess. That’s my hope, and to some extent now after a year and a half, a modest expectation.”
Tebow said he won’t view his effort as a failure if he doesn’t make it to MLB.
“If that doesn’t happen, I won’t look back and regret playing baseball because I’ve already enjoyed it,” he said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
