Tim Tebow will make his big league debut in a Grapefruit League contest against the Red Sox in Port Saint Lucie, FL on Wednesday.
The debut of Chris Sale in a Boston Red Sox uniform on Monday is slightly overshadowing another debut set to take place on Wednesday. The phenom known as Tim Tebow will be called up by the New York Mets to play with the big club. In fact, he’ll make his Grapefruit League debut against Boston at Tradition Field in Port Saint Lucie, FL.
While some pundits might see this as a publicity stunt, Joel Sherman of the New York Post discussed how the World Baseball Classic has made the move necessary. The Mets will lose 14 total players – the maximum allowed amount – to the WBC.
In comparison, the Red Sox will only have three players participating – Xander Bogaerts, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Fernando Abad (Hanley Ramirez planned on playing in the tournament but will miss it due to a sore shoulder). Also, the Mets will be playing split squad games which puts even more of strain on their roster.
No one expects Tebow to be on the active Major League roster in 2017, but it will still be interesting to see how he handles playing against top-tier talent. The starting pitcher for the Red Sox has yet to be announced for Wednesday.
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I understand that the Mets just need bodies that are willing and able at this point, but the whole situation does reek of desperation and attention-seeking. Boston were among a handful of teams that attended Tebow’s workout last year, but I have to think that was just teams doing their due diligence and making sure they are keeping an eye on every possibility. No one actually thought that Tebow would be signed, but the Mets made the deal with the devil and now the circus is coming to town.
Tebow-Mania was rampant in the sports world for a short time while he was the quarterback in Denver, and his fans are a vocal, passionate bunch. Now he has moved onto baseball and his fans seem even more insufferable given his incredibly low chances to have any type of significant role.
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Sure, he can hit the long ball … in batting practice, but the craze around Tebow is a bit ridiculous. In 19 games in the Arizona Fall League last season, his average was a measly .194. At some point, the admiration for his determination to find some kind of niche as a pro athlete has to turn to disdain and a desire to see him just go away. Wednesday’s showdown against the Red Sox could be the first step in getting the circus to leave town.