When the New York Mets open the 2019 season in March, it’s entirely possible that Tim Tebow will be on the Major League roster.
The expectation is that Tebow will open the year with Triple-A Syracuse. But speaking on the matter, new GM Brodie Van Wagenen said that Tebow might be with the Major League club.
Tim Tebow is likely to begin 2019 at Triple-A, but new #Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen did not rule out the possibility that he could make the @MLB Opening Day roster. Tebow has fully healed from hamate injury, Van Wagenen said. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 6, 2018
Tebow did show vast improvements in Double-A during the 2018 season. Between Single-A and Advanced-A in 2017, he hit .226/.309/.347 with eight home runs over 430 at-bats in 126 games. In 2018, Tebow hit .273/.336/.399 with six home runs in only 271 at-bats over 84 games — all in Double-A.
But even with that vast improvement noted, this would be a surprise.
A .273/.336/.399 hitter in Double-A is decent. It’s still a long way from being ready for the majors. We could make some sense out of Tebow being a September call-up, especially if the Mets are out of contention. But making the 25-man Opening Day roster is a much different story.
It’s not that we couldn’t see it happening. But Tebow would absolutely need to tear it up in the Grapefruit League next year for this to make any sense.