Major League Baseball

Cubs' Matt Szczur gets brutally honest about Tim Tebow's MLB prospects

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:59 p.m. ET

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Dan Carson

Tim Tebow's first open MLB workout wasn't exactly the finest exhibition of baseball known to man.

The former NFL quarterback and Heisman trophy winner worked his way through a number of very non-baseball drills and inspired some fine memes in the process. The overall end result has been a smattering of halfhearted applause across the league and sports at-large.

One voice weighing in on Tebow's baseball odds is Chicago Cubs outfielder Matt Szczur, who played football and baseball for Villanova. Szczur's professional evaluation on Tebow's MLB prospects, per the Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales: anyone can belt in batting practice, and it's a little late for Tebow to be making this move now.

"[Tebow]'s a good athlete," Szczur said. "The biggest thing is hitting the baseball in a game. Anyone can hit 400-foot home runs in batting practice. That's the most difficult part of playing baseball—the variable of the pitcher with [fastballs], sinkers sliders, cut fastballs and change-ups. That's what makes it hard."

Tebow's absence from the game of baseball is another concern.

"And being away from the game that long? What's it take on average for a player to make the big leagues? Four years? Five years?"

Szczur, 26, also said that Tebow's best-case scenario at the age of 29 is a tiny window in the bigs.

"And that's if you ever make it to the big leagues. So if he makes it to the big leagues at 34, 35? Then what?"

Dan is on Twitter. If you make it to the big leagues at 34 you get a lifetime of free meals at Cracker Barrel.

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