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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — There are 13 players with at least 100 at-bats for the St. Lucie Mets this season, and it may surprise plenty of people to see who leads that group in batting average.
That would be Tim Tebow.
The Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback showed more flashes of his potential this past week for the Mets' top Single-A club, with everything from diving catches to a three-hit game and another opposite-field home run.
He's now hitting .292 for St. Lucie, including an 0-for-2 start on Sunday in a game that was suspended and will finish Monday.
A look at how Tebow fared this week, and how he's doing this season:
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HIGHLIGHTS: Tebow had a 3-for-5 game against Bradenton on Wednesday, his fourth three-hit game this season (his second with St. Lucie, both coming in the last two weeks). He also connected on his fifth home run with St. Lucie, a three-run shot on Saturday that was his eighth overall this season.
AT THE PLATE: Including Sunday's 0-for-2 start to a suspended game at Charlotte (that game will be resumed Monday afternoon), Tebow batted 5 for 24 (.208) this week with one home run and five RBIs.
ON THE SEASON: Counting his time in Columbia of the South Atlantic League, Tebow is 78 for 320 (.244) with eight home runs, 43 RBIs, 35 walks and 94 strikeouts. In 32 games with St. Lucie, he's hitting .292 with five home runs and 20 RBIs.
IN THE FIELD: Tebow was back in left field this week, after some tinkering with him in center field earlier this month. He's had two errors this season with St. Lucie, after being charged with seven with Columbia (in 376 innings there, as opposed to 153 in the St. Lucie outfield).
MORE EXPERIMENTING: Tebow batted leadoff, as the Mets' DH, against Bradenton on Thursday. He went 0 for 4. Tebow usually bats in the No. 6 or No. 7 spot in the St. Lucie order.
RECORD CROWDS: Tebow is still a huge draw in the Florida State League. Charlotte set a franchise record Saturday, with 7,515 showing up to see Tebow play — and he delivered a homer, to the delight of many even though the Mets were the road team.
WHAT'S NEXT: Tebow and the Mets finish the suspended game and follow that with a seven-inning affair at Charlotte on Monday. That series ends Tuesday. There's a league-wide day off Wednesday, and Tebow and the Mets return to Port St. Lucie to start a four-game series with the Tampa Yankees on Thursday.
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