Already with little to look forward to this September, the possibility of seeing Tim Tebow in a New York Mets uniform in 2018 is over.
Finally cursed with his own brand of bad news, Tim Tebow may officially be a New York Met.
The quarterback-turned-outfielder is done for the season, having suffered a broken hamate bone in his right hand. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Mets’ minor-league OF Tim Tebow broke the hamate bone in his right hand swinging the bat this weekend and is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday and is now likely out for the season, per MLB source. #sticktobasketball
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 23, 2018
This ends Tebow’s second professional baseball season, one that was spent entirely with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the Mets’ Double-A affiliate. Tebow was on pace to improve his numbers in all major offensive categories from his debut season, having tallied six home runs and driving in 36 runs over 84 games, compared to eight home runs and 52 RBI’s over 126 games with Columbia and St. Lucie last season. His batting average also rose from .226 to .273.
Tebow’s 2018 efforts were recently rewarded with a trip to the Eastern League All-Star Game, held on July 11 at Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton, NJ.
Tebow, 30, had injured his hand during a July 19 game in Binghamton. He was placed on the seven-day disabled list, before being sent back to New York shortly after for an x-ray and MRI. He is expected to undergo surgery on Tuesday.
The injury comes at an unfortunate time for Tebow, who had picked up at least one hit in 13 of his past 14 games, and was batting .340 in the month of July. Notably, he had three hits, including his sixth and final home run of the season, on July 13 in Akron.
With the Rumble Ponies’ parent club in Queens currently enduring another lost season, sitting at 43-58 entering Monday’s games, the possibility of a Tebow major league call-up grew with each loss, especially with MLB rosters expanded to 40 players in September. Tebow signed with the Mets in September 2016. Despite having yet to play a regular season MLB game, Tebow’s jersey can be purchased on the official MLB online store. He had struggled with the Mets in spring training action, earning just one hit in 18 at-bats (.056 average).
Despite his NFL career ending after the 2013 season, Tebow has remained active in football. A Heisman-winner at the University of Florida, he serves as an analyst on SEC Network during college football season.
The Rumble Ponies currently sit at 47-52 in the Eastern division of the Eastern League standings, 6.5 games behind Trenton for the division’s last playoff spot.
