Tim Tebow has inexplicably drawn a large number of haters.
Cynics can’t stand his earnestness and devotion to Christ, experiencing glee in his on-the-field failures.
But even the staunchest Tebow haters have to acknowledge the amazing feat he’s accomplishing right now.
The former Heisman trophy winner turned heads when he chose to pursue professional baseball after his football career petered out.
Many critics said he would wash out immediately, but Tebow surprised the naysayers by outperforming expectations.
As Tebow has proven to be a credible minor-league baseball player, some are beginning to seriously wonder if he can make it all the way to the majors.
Outspoken sports host Clay Travis, who’s more often right than wrong, predicts Tebow will eventually get called up.
From Breitbart:
Monday on Fox Sports Radio’s “Outkick the Coverage,” host Clay Travis noted Tim Tebow’s success in AA this season for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, saying not only has the 2007 Heisman-winner “drastically exceeded” reasonable expectations, but he could end up making the New York Mets’ squad after not playing baseball for 10 years.
Tebow is hitting .260 with four homers and 17 RBI in 31 games this season.
“I think relative to expectations of what Tebow would do in Major League Baseball and professional baseball, even if you’re a Tebow hater, he has drastically exceeded, I think, what reasonable expectations could have been,” Travis said.
He later added, “There are a lot of guys out there that will never be able to hit at that caliber who have been playing baseball every day since they were 10 years old, and Tebow took all of those years off to play football — obviously at an insanely high level. But, to me, I think he will play in the major leagues.”
Travis’s proclamation about Tebow eventually making it to the majors isn’t hyperbole. Tebow is currently outperforming highly-touted prospects at the Double-A level.
From SEC Country:
Tim Tebow may be closer to flirting with a Major League call-up than some people may think.
The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback turned minor league baseball player has turned things on as of late, and he may 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.
During his last 10 games with Double-A Binghamton, Tebow has launched 2 home runs to go along with a .333 batting average, .429 on-base percentage and a .567 slugging percentage.
That hot streak has brought his season totals up to a .260 batting average, .342 on-base percentage and .452 slugging percentage. And as MLB.com’s Mets beat reporter Anthony DiComo points out, that’s good for a .794 OPS (on-base + slugging) that ranks 22nd in the Eastern League.
That places Tebow ahead of MLB.com’s No. 11 prospect Bo Bichette (.756 OPS) and No. 35 prospect Austin Hays (.662 OPS), both of which are attempting to tackle the Double-A Eastern League alongside the former Florida Gator.
The biggest difference between Tebow and prospects like Bichette and Hays, of course, is his advanced age. At 20 and 22 respectively, Bichette and Hays are at ages where growth and struggles are to be expected at the Double-A level. Tebow, on the other hand, is at the age of a typical veteran Major League player thanks to his decade-long detour away from the game due to his college, NFL and later broadcasting career revolving around the game of football.
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Still yet, if Tebow keeps swinging a hot bat it will force the Mets to at least entertain the idea of promoting their pet project to the big leagues to see what happens.
Tebow still isn’t a lock to make it to the majors, but his performance of late shows he has a chance.
And if Tebow’s characteristic work ethic and intensity prove anything, it’s that he knows how to make the best of a chance.