The New York Mets have lost non-prospect Tim Tebow for the season as he will not return from the cut he suffered on his pinky.
New York Mets merchandise sales machine minor league player Tim Tebow will see his rough season come to an end. Tebow, who has been out since July with a deep cut on his pinky finger, will not return this season according to Tim Healey of Newsday.
Breaking: Tim Tebow’s season is over, sources said.
He suffered a deep cut on his left pinky last month, and it won’t heal in time for him to play again this year.
The Mets expect Tebow, who turns 32 next week, back in 2020 for his fourth season of pro baseball.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) August 10, 2019
Tebow has slashed .163/.240/.255 for triple-A Syracuse this year, which is brutal. For reference, Jacob deGrom, who is both the same age as Tebow and a pitcher, has slashed .196/.260/.304 against major league pitchers.
Tebow also struck out against a position player earlier this season. A ridiculous 41% of his at-bats have ended with him striking out, which is astonishingly bad even for today’s strikeout happy game.
The former Heisman winner, who was on the roster of the New York Jets for a season, had his best season in 2018 with the double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. He was named to the Eastern League All-Star Game, although it should be noted that there are three double-A leagues, and thus six All-Star rosters to be filled (two for each league) at that level.
Tebow was decent that year, slashing .273/.336/.399, albeit against players an average of 5.7 years younger than him. For his three-year minor league career, he has slashed .223/.299/.338, which is not a level of production in the minors that suggests a player has any business playing major league baseball.
His NFL career didn’t fare much better, as he flamed out of the league after three years. The former quarterback racked up 989 yards rushing in three years, but could never quite figure out that throwing thing. He completed only 47.9% of his NFL passes and threw for 2,422 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Healey notes that the team expects him to return in 2020 although frankly, it’s hard to figure out why they want him back except for the fact that he sells merchandise. At least that comeback win Friday night was fun though.
