Tebow cites comfort zone for recent batting surge
Tim Tebow has been playing with the St. Lucie Mets for less than a month — a very small sample size to analyze a baseball player — but the early returns are impressive.
After hitting .220/.311/.336 in 64 games at low-A Columbia (S.C.), the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner is batting .306/.390/.514 with the Mets heading into Thursday night’s game against the Jupiter (Fla.) Hammerheads.
Typically, it’s strange to see any minor leaguer hit almost 90 percentage points higher against a higher level of competition. But as is the case with many Tebowrelated situations, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Until 10 months ago, Tebow hadn’t played in a competitive baseball game since his junior year of high school. Since signing with the Mets in September, Tebow, 29, has had a crash course in the game.
The repetition of playing every day is allowing him to feel more at ease in the batter’s box.
“I think I’m more comfortable seeing more pitches,” Tebow said Thursday in an exclusive interview. “Playing baseball for longer, I think that helps. Also, (hitting coach) Luis (Natera) and (manager) Chad (Kreuter), getting to work with them every day and just what we’re doing out there — taking pitches, seeing, tracking. I feel more comfortable with my swing, feel more comfortable with my game plan I’m having against pitchers, and then just playing more baseball helps, too.”
Natera said Tebow has “made a big jump from spring training to now.”
“Spring training was too early to say something about it, but he was rough,” Natera said. “Too much body in his swing. For a guy who didn’t play a game for years — and he’s a big, strong kid — he had too much body in his swing. Now he’s using his legs and his hands much better. A much more fluid swing. Now he’s pulling the ball the right way.”
Tebow had a 12-game hitting streak July 3-14 and has hit as many home runs (three) in 22 games with St. Lucie as he hit with Columbia. He had driven in a run in five of the previous seven games heading into Thursday’s action and has cut down his strikeout rate considerably (one in every 5.5 at-bats with St. Lucie, compared with one in every 3.1 with Columbia).
Still, Tebow refuses to think about what’s next in his baseball career or if he’ll get called up to the big leagues at some point — something New York general manager Sandy Alderson said last week he didn’t foresee. “It’s a dangerous place to be as an athlete,” Tebow said. “You don’t want to think about that. I’ve got to think about the here, I’ve got to think about the now, I’ve got to think about what I’m doing. … This journey isn’t just about the destination. It’s about every single day. It’s about the competition against the pitcher. It’s about the camaraderie with my teammates. It’s about enjoying every moment.
“Wherever it ends, I’m going to have fun.”
“I’ve got to think about the now, I’ve got to think about what I’m doing. … This journey isn’t just about the destination. It’s about every single day.” Tim Tebow