New Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said yesterday that the world’s most famous minor leaguer, Tim Tebow, has been hitting multiple times per week. That clearly suggests that Tebow, who broke the hamate bone in his right hand while swinging a bat in late July, is coming back next season.
It’s also worth noting that Van Wagenen noted that Tebow is on “a real mission to play in the big leagues next year,” and that when asked if that meant he’d play in the big leagues in 2019, Van Wagenen did not rule it out. Tebow will likely begin the 2019 season at Triple-A Syracuse, but I would not be at all surprised if he were given a late season callup if the Mets aren’t in contention. Indeed, many believed that was the plan for him this year had he not been injured.
How that makes you feel is up to you, but I’ve come around on Tebow a good deal. Yes, I still think much of what has him playing baseball these past couple of years is a stunt and no I do not think that he truly belongs in the bigs on merit, but (a) he has played at at least a respectable level for a guy his age and with his relative lack of baseball experience; and (b) even if you believe the Mets’ interest in Tebow is more marketing than baseball, that does not preclude you from giving Tebow a deserved tip of the cap for working hard and sticking it out in the bush leagues.
Now, it seems, that includes doing the hard work of coming back from an injury that has ended a lot of players’ baseball careers. If calling him up to the bigs for a fun experience does not harm anyone else, who are we to say it shouldn’t be done?
