TEBOW’S HIGHER CALLING
METS GIVE EX-QB INVITE TO MAJOR LEAGUE CAMP
The Mets won’t limit Tim Tebow to cameos in the Grapefruit League this spring.
On Friday, the club announced Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, is among the invitees to major league spring training. Tebow, who returned to baseball in fall 2016 after a decade-long absence from the sport, spent last spring training in minor leagueue camp for the Mets, but appeared in several major league exhibition games.
Tebow, a corner outfielder, will be joined by first baseman Peter Alonso, left-handed pitcher P.J. Conlon, outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski, catcher Patrick Mazeika, right-handed pitcher Drew Smith, right-handed pitcher Corey Taylor, third baseman David Thompson and right-handed ppitcher Adonis Uceta among tthe non-roster invitees. The Mets previously invvited outfielder Zach Borenstein, infielder Phil Evans, catcher Jose Lobaton and lefthanded pitcher Matt Purke to major league camp. Tebow, 30, had a knack for the hheroic while playing at two minnor league levels for the Mets llast season, hitting a home run in his first at-bat with the Low-A Columbia Fireflies and in his firstf game after he was promoted to the High-A St. Lucie Mets. He also went on a 12-game hitting streak in the month of July. Otherwise, the former NFL quarterback’s attempt at a second professional sport was unremarkable. He posted a .226/.309/.347 slash line with eight home runs and 52 RBIs over 126 games between the two leagues.