On Saturday, the New York Mets announced their non-roster spring training invites, and the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and major league hopeful Tim Tebow was again on that list.
The Mets have invited the left-handed outfielder in each of the past four seasons. However, this invite is more significant than the rest after Major League Baseball limited spring roster sizes to 75 as a coronavirus precaution.
In his four spring training go-arounds, Tebow has averaged .151 batting in 34 games. As a minor leaguer for the Mets affiliate in Syracuse, Tebow had a similar batting average, hitting .163 with four homers and 19 RBIs two years ago.
Although his statistics have been poor, the 33-year-old continues to be invited into the Mets organization year after year. Prior to his return to baseball in 2016, Tebow hadn’t played in a game since his junior year of high school.
The conversation of Tim Tebow and his stats and the chances he gets can be traced even to his career in the NFL. ESPN’s First Take rose to the level of fame with Skip and Stephen A’s debate of this exact subject as the quarterback led the Broncos to a first-round playoff win upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The argument always goes back to giving Tebow a chance because he is a leader that “knows how to win.” In his fight to return to baseball, Tebow has battled injuries, and despite those, is not ready to let go of his Major League Dreams.
“That would obviously be something that would be special, and I think another part of the dream,” Tebow said in an interview last year. “Part of it’s just playing every day and enjoying it and competing, which I love. Obviously, that would be awesome. It would be a lie if I said that wouldn’t be super cool. … But I wouldn’t say it would be a success or failure if that did or did not happen.”
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