Tebow Has Rough First Week In Arizona Fall League
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (CBSNewYork) -- Tim Tebow may have homered on the first pitch he saw in the instructional league, but it's been all downhill since.
Through his first three games with the Scottsdale Scorpions on the Arizona Fall League, the 29-year-old Mets prospect is 0-for-9. He also ran face-first into an outfield wall while unsuccessfully chasing down a fly ball.
The highlight of his week was in, true Tim Tebow fashion, comforting a man who suffered a seizure during a game by sitting with him until paramedics arrived.
The Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback went for 4-for-14 in the instructional league in Florida, but the competition is much better in Arizona, where teams generally send top prospects from Triple-A and Double-A to refine their skills.
Tebow, who was granted an exception, is playing his first organized baseball since his junior year in high school.
"I'm not seeing (him) overmatched at all," Scorpions manager Tom Goodwin, also the Mets' first-base coach, told NJ.com. "I'm just seeing he's -- and I'm sure he said it to you before -- he's missed some pitches that he should hit. He's rolling over right now. That's going to happen because you're anxious.
"I expect him to get better and better every time he comes out and plays. He's going to have to learn whenever he gets his pitch to not miss it."
Tebow, who is taking off Friday and Saturday to fulfill his SEC Network obligations, said he's not feeling discouraged.
"This is a process," he told NJ.com. "Focus and go get it next time. It's a good experience. I'm trying to improve every day in certain things ... work out things. Keep going. One day at a time."
ESPN scouting guru Keith Law, however, isn't so optimistic things will work out for Tebow. He wrote in an article: "Tebow the baseball player is not a baseball player; he's a washed-up quarterback who has size and nothing else. ... In short, there's absolutely no baseball justification for Tebow to be here."
