Mets manager Terry Collins already said he wants Tim Tebow at camp for the Mets’ spring training. Mets hitting coach Kevin Long took it even further on Wednesday.

He thinks that Tebow can actually make the big-league club.

In an interview with Dan Dakich on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis, Long spoke highly of what he’s seen from Tebow in his early professional baseball career. He went as far as to say that he wouldn’t count out Tebow’s chances of making it to the majors.

Long said, speaking of the first time he worked with Tebow:

“You know what, it was kind of cool. He called me when he was out here for the Arizona Fall League, and I live in Arizona. So, he called and asked if we could get together. We hit six or seven times, and you know what, he could hit a little bit. He’s got a lot of work to do. He understands that. He knows it’s not going to be easy, but having seen his swing now and worked with him a little bit, I’m not so sure he can’t break through and maybe give himself a good chance to get there.

“Yeah, kind of surprising, but I tell you what, with his work — the guy is just a machine. He’s 260, 7 percent body fat. He’s 6-4. He’s put together like no athlete I’ve ever seen. His work ethic is off the charts. And we all know what kind of human being he is. But obviously, you have to have talent, and baseball is a tough sport to pick up after 10 years. We’ll see if he can do it, but I’m not counting him out — that’s for sure.”

When asked if “break through” meant making the New York Mets, Long said yes. He thought that more at-bats would be more beneficial for Tebow than what we’ve seen thus far.

“Well, he’s going to play in the minor leagues. But, listen, he’s got to play. He’s got to get some at-bats underneath his belt. In a month, you’re going to get 100 at-bats. He’s got 100 at-bats probably in his professional career right now. That’s counting the instructional league and the Arizona Fall League. But that’s only a month worth of baseball after a big layoff. So he needs to play some minor league baseball. We’ll see how that ends up. But yeah, I don’t count out the fact that maybe at some point, he can break through into the major leagues.”

Tebow hit .194 in 19 games with the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.

You can listen to the full interview here.

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