Tom Brennan: TEBOW - COMING TO A STADIUM NEAR YOU?

Tom Brennan: 

TEBOW: COMING TO A STADIUM NEAR YOU?

TIM TEBOW 

Yeah, him. 

You know, the guy no one (but me) takes seriously.

Sandy Alderson in a weekend press conference said he believes TEBOW will be a major leaguer.  Everyone, pretty much, seemed shocked, skeptical.  Not me.

Twin T this off-season has gotten 15 pounds leaner and meaner, and worked out hard with master hitting expert (and fellow Christian) Daniel Murphy - I have no doubt their mutual faith is part of their bond.  

Tebow apparently has been picking Daniel's brain, and has altered his swing, presumably to generate more extra base power, which he is certainly strong enough to generate.  

REALLY SMART MOVE TO WORK OUT WITH MURPH.

As people often note that he hit in the .220's last year,  BUT I've said it before and will say it again...the Mets NEVER start a prospect's career in Full Season ball....Conforto? Alonso? Two of the Mets' best?  Both started in rookie ball Brooklyn. 

Most Mets draftees would've failed trying to do what Tebow did last year in A ball in his first season, except for Alonso and Conforto. Only those 2 would have hit as well.  IMO.  

And Conforto, in his year two, started out in St Lucie, where he hit .283/.350/.462 before a mid season promo to AA.  And he was a first round, top 10 draft pick.  Would Tebow, if he returned to St Lucie in his year 2, put up similar numbers?  Perhaps he'd put up better #'s.

Remember how poorly almost all the hitters did in Brooklyn the past 2 seasons?  Tebow outhit almost all of them, and against much tougher competition at higher levels.

I made the point recently that Kevin Kaczmarski started his career in rookie Kingsport after his collegiate days and hit .355...but in his second year, in Columbia and St Lucie, in the same  levels Tebow played in his 1st year, Kevin hit .280.

Sure, that's better than Tebow's year 1 numbers in Columbia and St Lucie, but it Kevin's his second year and he went pro straight out of college ball, not with a 10+ year layoff.  

Perhaps if Kevin K started his first season 2 levels higher in Columbia, he hits .220 there too...or less.  And I like Kevin as a prospect, especially if he adds some pop this year, so I am not denigrating him in any way here.  Just highlighting the challenge Tebow faced in his year 1.

Tebow in fact was hitting close to .280 for the season before his August 2017 deep swoon, which likely was hit-the-wall-related.  We've all heard of rookies who hit the wall...and Tebow, having not played baseball, suddenly played in 123 games and had almost 500 at bats.   And he was beaned on August 12, too - while not seriously hurt (he stayed in the game), it may have impacted him for a few weeks - I'm just speculating.

Tebow certainly has the size, and perhaps the ability, to hit like a recent former similar-sized Met, Lucas Duda. 

Lucas was criticized a lot, but it was to a large degree because he was correctly perceived as shy, retiring, and too cautious at the plate taking fat pitches - I think many of us felt he should have been better.

Tebow is far from shy and retiring, all can agree.  

It took quiet Duda almost 4 years to get to Citified for a September call up - Tebow is trying to do that in 2 years.  He has the intestinal fortitude and drive, IMO, to progress fast.

Enough said - I think Tebow will have a surprisingly good year in 2018 - how about .270/20/80 in AA and AAA?

And I will reiterate what I've opined before, we see him playing (at least on a limited basis) this September in Queens for the Mets.  

Time (and Sandy) will tell.  One thing he will do that no other 2018 call up could do - ring the sales register big-time - so he has a clear competitive advantage.

Or you could just continue to view him as a circus act.  If so, the circus will be coming to town before you know it.  I hear the popcorn rocks.