BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Tim Tebow’s bid to play in the Major Leagues this season is likely over after the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback injured his hand while swinging a bat late last week, according to Fox News.
Tebow, 30, broke the hamate bone in his right hand, and will have surgery to address the injury on Tuesday. It is likely that Tebow will miss the rest of the season, according to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter, who cited a major league baseball source.
Tebow suffered the injury on Thursday while playing with the New York Mets Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. He was placed on the disabled list on Saturday.
An All-Star in the Eastern League as a leftfielder this season, Tebow was batting .273 with six home runs in Binghamton. Given the woeful state of the Mets, who are in last place in the National League East and show no signs of life, there was some thought that Tebow might get called up to the big leagues when rosters expand in September.
But Thursday’s injury probably rules out any chance of that happening.
A two-time national champion and the 2007 Heisman Award winner, Tebow’s charmed career at the University of Florida didn’t translate to the NFL. Though he added to his legend with a series of late-game comebacks with the Denver Broncos in 2011 and a first-round playoff win over the Pittsburgh that same year, Tebow was traded to the Jets in the offseason, where he became a seldom-used backup.
He competed for spots on the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles rosters in 2013 and 2015, respectively, but failed to make either club.
