The New York Mets will reportedly assign outfielder Tim Tebow to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Class AA; Eastern League) to begin his 2018 season, continuing his climb up the organization’s ladder.
Last year, Tebow made his full-season minor league debut, splitting the campaign between the Columbia Fireflies (Low A; Sally League) and the St. Lucie Mets (High A; Florida State League). The former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback’s overall numbers were not great–he batted .226 in 126 games between the two levels–but his presence was credited with having a positive effect on attendance numbers throughout the South Atlantic League and Florida State League.
It appears that Tebow is now ticketed for Binghamton and the Eastern League, as he is expected to begin his season with the Rumble Ponies. More from The New York Post:
The Mets plan to announce that Tim Tebow, who spent part of this spring in major league camp within the organization, will begin his season at Double-A Binghamton in the Eastern League, an industry source told The Post on Monday.
Tebow, 30, split last season between Low-A Columbia and High-A Port St. Lucie. Overall, he posted a .226/.309/.347 slash line with eight homers and 52 RBIs. The season was the former Heisman Trophy winner’s first in baseball since his junior year of high school.
Tebow was in major league camp with the Mets to start the spring and went 1-for-18 (.056) with 11 strikeouts in the Grapefruit League. He has spent the last two weeks in the Mets’ minor-league camp.
The Rumble Ponies, by the way, are scheduled to begin their 2018 season at home against the Portland Sea Dogs on April 5. That will mark the beginning of a seven-game homestand at NYSEG Stadium.
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