Tebow still striving for consistency in minors

TRENTON » With every game the fourthplace Mets lose and the calendar soon turning to July, there grows the possibility that Tim Tebow may get his shot in the big leagues before the end of the season.

Tebow turns 31 on August 14, so naturally at his age, he isn’t operating on the same timetable as your traditional minor league player. If the former NFL quarterback doesn’t graze an MLB diamond by September, he might never. Either way his time is limited.

But while Tebow understands the question, a late-season call-up isn’t a hypothetical he sees any benefit in thinking about.

“You know what, I’ve just got to focus on this day, improving and the process,” he said Tuesday as he returned to Arm & Hammer Park for Binghamton’s second series with Trenton in two weeks.

If his second season in the Mets’ farm system does lead to playing in Flushing, it will likely be more for the fanfare than Tebow’s long-term viability.

The outfielder is still struggling to consistently produce at the plate in Double-A. Entering Tuesday he was sporting a .239 batting average with four home runs, 76 strikeouts and 19 walks in 180 at-bats.

At 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, Tebow possesses raw power. The question is whether he can harness it enough to generate the necessary extra-base hits to offset his strikeout rate.

According to USA Today, the Mets’ focus is improving Tebow’s contact point so that the left-handed hitter can pull the ball into the air more frequently. Not an easy adjustment, but subtle physical tweaks can make a significant impact.

“There’s a lot of different things that we’ve working on in every area of the game,” Tebow said. “There’s different things at the plate, on the base paths and the outfield that I’m feeling good with. At times you can really feel a spark, and just got to be consistent with it.”

Since he began playing in the lower levels of the Mets’ system last April, Tebow says he has become more versatile and comfortable with adjusting to different styles of pitchers and their tactical approaches.

Prior to signing with the Mets in September 2016 following a tryout in front of 40 MLB scouts, the University of Florida graduate had not played baseball since his junior year of high school.

“I don’t know if it’s tougher than I thought it’d be,” Tebow said. “I had my eyes very open coming into it knowing what it was going to be, and how tough, the journey — everything. I think it’s very similar to what I expected coming in, but it’s a really fun game that I’m blessed to be able to play.”