The New York Mets made it official that Tim Tebow will not be part of their Opening Day roster, as he was reassigned to their minor league camp.
During the offseason, New York Mets general manager caused a few raised eyebrows when he said that the team is not ruling out Tim Tebow from their Opening Day roster. Obviously, that would need to involve several injuries and a tremendous Spring Training for Tebow to crack the roster, but just the thought that could happen was an amazing turn of events.
That possibility came to an end on Tuesday. The Mets sent Tebow to their minor league camp, where he will presumably get ready to begin the year in AAA.
Tim Tebow will depart #Mets camp today as part of more spring training cuts. He will be reassigned to minor league camp.
— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) March 12, 2019
To be fair, Tebow did have a relatively decent camp. After struggling at the beginning part of March, he ended up getting four hits in 18 plate appearances, drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch twice. Even more impressively, he only struck out three times, an encouraging sign considering he has a 29.2% strikeout rate in the minors.
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That does not preclude Tebow from reaching the majors at some point this season. If he performs well at AAA, and the Mets suffer injuries to their outfield, Tebow could find his way to the Mets. For now, however, the focus is to make sure that he is ready to contribute in case such a call does occur.
Had injuries not ended his season, that call may have happened in 2018. Tebow had produced a solid .273/.336/.399 batting line, hitting six homers and 14 doubles in his 298 plate appearances, drawing 22 walks but striking out 103 times. He had been on a hot streak when he broke his hamate bone, making a promotion to AAA seem likely before injury.
Tebow will get his chance at that level now. He will also get a chance to extend his habit of hitting a home run in his first plate appearance at each level, having done so in each of the three minor league stops he has made thus far. Can he go four for four?
Tim Tebow Time will not happen with the New York Mets just yet. That does not mean it won’t happen sometime this year, however, especially if he continues the progress he displayed at AA last year.