Minor league position player gets struggling Tim Tebow looking in pitching debut
Things aren’t going swell in Tebow Land.
Tim Tebow is having a tough year with the Syracuse Mets, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. He’s played in nearly every game, yet has the lowest stats on the team in nearly every category.
Except for strikeouts. And his backward K on Tuesday against the Buffalo Bisons has a strong chance of being the worst one of all.
The Mets were dominating, 15-2, heading into the ninth inning so the Bisons put first baseman and outfielder Jordan Patterson on the mound in his pitching debut.
He threw three straight balls inside against Tebow before getting him swinging to move the count full. His sixth pitch was an 88 mph fastball almost down the middle.
The ex-NFL quarterback didn’t handle it well.
Patterson, a member of the Mets organization for three days last autumn, allowed two walks, one hit and one run in his single inning.
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<) )╯POSITION
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<) )> THROWING GAS!
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7-year pro #Bisons 1B/OF Jordan Patterson makes his pitching debut & strikes out his first batter, OF Tim Tebow, with an 88mph fastball on the black! @MiLB @Cut4 pic.twitter.com/02NdTg0Czl— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) May 29, 2019
Tebow is hitting .156/.239/.227 over 128 at-bats and 40 games this season with an OPS of .466. It’s the worst average on the team and in the International League. His 53 strikeouts are also tops on the team and account for 41 percent of his at-bats.
He is still on pace to have the worst Triple-A numbers of more than 1,700 players at that level since 2006 when Fangraphs began collecting data. His push through the minors after 12 years away from baseball has been swift and not even poor numbers will omit him from consideration for the final promotion.
The 31-year-old did hit his first home run of the season — while in a Paw Patrol-inspired uniform, no less — and is a huge draw for home fans when the Mets travel. But his downright terrible, not great, odd-highlight-worthy season will continue into June.
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