MiLB: Tebow struggles at plate in first Instructional League game

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — If Mets outfield prospect Tim Tebow is going to have trouble with the curve, it won’t be revealed for at least a few more days.

During the fall Instructional League, the repertoire of Mets pitchers is limited to fastballs and changeups. At least until Wednesday, when the Mets play the Cardinals, Tebow will not have to contend with breaking balls, which have been the undoing of many a prospect with good swing mechanics.

On Monday, though, Tebow had trouble enough with fastballs and changeups in his two plate appearances during the Mets’ first intrasquad game, striking out swinging both times.

In Tebow’s first at-bat, 21-year-old Dominican right-hander Harol Gonzalez, who pitched this season for the Class-A short season Brooklyn Cyclones, fanned the lefty-swinging Tebow on an 82-mph changeup on a 1-and-2 count, doubling up on the same pitch Tebow had swung over on 1-and-1.

Tebow swung and missed on a 93-mph fastball from 23-year-old Dominican Ronald Sanchez, a onetime Cardinals prospect who the Mets signed a year ago. Sanchez pitched this season for the Mets’ Gulf Coast League team after missing the previous two seasons.

Tebow made his first contact on the first pitch from Sanchez, fouling off a 94-mph fastball. After taking another fastball inside, he dribbled an 84-mph changeup foul, took another ball and then swung and missed on a 93-mph fastball.