Scout’s View: Tim Tebow Draws A Crowd, But Doesn’t Impress

GLENDALE, Ariz.—For prospect-watchers, the opening of the Arizona Fall League comes with great fanfare. But AFL games in general are not well-attended—unless you count scouts, general managers, assistant general managers and player development directors.

This is a time of year that baseball administrations get a look a rising stars, players who could be on their last minor league option or possible Rule 5 Draft picks this winter. They can also see how their own players fare against some of baseball’s best prospects.

With two games starting at 12:35 p.m. local time—one game each day starts at 6:35 p.m.—scouts typically walk into the ballpark for batting practice with no one else in sight but other scouts.

But not for the opener of the 2016 season in Glendale. As I pulled into the parking lot at 10:15 a.m., I’ve never seen this many cars in the parking lot. The gates don’t open to the public until 11:30 a.m. I knew who was playing today for Scottsdale, but really? There was a line of fans waiting to get in to the game almost 90 minutes before the gates even open.

Yes, this was Tim Tebow’s debut in the Arizona Fall League.

Batting practice for scouts serves to answer several questions: what kind of raw power does a hitter display?; How does the ball “jump” off the bat?; Can he use the whole field?; Does he have power to the big part of the field? and, of course, scouts bouncing ideas off each other.

There was plenty of attention to batting practice Tuesday as No. 15 for the Mets stepped in for his first batting-practice round. I sat alone and watched BP and tried to come up with a body comparison for this “rookie”—I couldn’t think of one. He looked like a football player. As the BP pitcher threw 50 mph cookies right down the middle, I observed his approach, his mechanics, the “jump” off the bat that scouts look for. It was clear that No. 15 has some raw power, though the swing was stiff and seemed muscled up. How would that translate into a live game? We would soon find out.

AFL games are played when the weather starts to turn cool for Arizona natives. Translation: it’s in the mid-90’s instead of higher than 100 degrees. Tuesday was still warm for Arizonans looking for that fall relief that eventually comes at some point in October. A typical AFL game draws around 150-200 fans. On Tuesday, there were more than 900 people in attendance. Cameras, camcorders, cell phones, bats, balls and baseball cards (anything that could be signed) seemed to rule the day. But there was a game being played on the field.

Neither starting pitcher fared very well as both struggled with command and threw less than three complete innings. 2015 first-rounder Dillon Tate—acquired by the Yankees from the Rangers for Carlos Beltran—came in for Scottsdale and showed electric stuff. His fastball ranged 92-96 mph, he showed an explosive slider up to 87 mph and an effective changeup at 83-84 mph. His outing was marred by command issues as well, though his stuff may have been the best of the day. Phillies big-bodied reliever Miguel Nunez showed an electric 95-96 mph fastball as well as an 85 mph slider. He struggled with his command as well and left balls out over the plate and was banged around for three hits, a walk and a run in 1 1/3 innings.

Scottsdale got on the board early and often as the Scorpions struck for seven runs in the first four innings. They pounded out eight extra base hits, highlighted by a solo homer from the Giants’ Hunter Cole to left-center field. Scottsdale’s pitchers didn’t fare much better against a Glendale lineup that had 10 hits, including home runs from catchers Carson Kelly (Cardinals) and Garrett Stubbs (Astros). Glendale’s Cody Bellinger (Dodgers) and Harrison Bader (Cardinals) both had multiple-hit days and looked like solid prospects for their respective clubs.

But back to the main attraction—Tebow. His every at-bat was an event. People scurried down from the shaded seating area to the sunny front row seats to get a closeup as cell phones were held up to record his every move. The results were not overly impressive. He had two moderately hit ground balls to the right side (one to second base, one to first base) and a chopper straight down that went about six inches in front of home plate. On that play, the catcher quickly picked up the ball and tagged Tebow, who was still standing in the box, apparently unsure the ball was fair.

As I left the ballpark, a few thoughts popped into my head about this opening day. First, I hope the umpires open up their strike zone to be just a little bigger than the size of a shoe box. No wonder this has typically been a hitters’ league.

Second, I can’t wait to get a full look at some of the league’s best prospects. I will be writing scouting reports on some of these players during the six-week AFL.

Lastly, I can’t wait to see Tim Tebow again this Saturday . . . as a football analyst on the SEC Network. Roll Tide.