Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Tim Tebow is coming back to Florida — this time in a baseball uniform.

The New York Mets’ organization promoted Tebow from its Columbia affiliate in the Low-A South Atlantic League to St. Lucie of the High-A Florida State League on Sunday.

More Top Picks Best Shoes For Stability And Motion Control

His first game with his new team is tentatively set for Tuesday, at home, against Palm Beach, with a 6:30 p.m. start. The Florida Fire Frogs, an FSL team based in Kissimmee, is set to host St. Lucie from July 21-24.

Although the move is a step up, Tebow is still considered a project, and it will take some work before he becomes major-league ready.

Tebow, 29, hit .222 at Columbia with three home runs in 63 games. He struck out 69 times, a reflection of a player who is still rusty after not playing baseball since high school.

“It’s not like he’s tearing up the league, but at the same time, all of the indications are positive in terms of various things we look at — chase rates and exit velocity,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. “The bottom line is, the average isn’t there, but he’s improving.”

Tebow is mostly known for his Gator Glory, winning the Heisman Trophy with the Florida Gators and leading to team to a national title while playing on a team that won another one.

Tebow was on four NFL teams in a five-year span, but only played in 25 games. He endeared himself forevermore to his fans in 2011, when he helped push the Denver Broncos to a playoff spot and first-round victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But his NFL career was toast after that. He would throw only eight more passes in a regular-season game, with the New York Jets, before subsequent cameos and cuts with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

That led him to his baseball journey after signing with the Mets last September.

“I think I do enjoy every step of the way,” Tebow said recently. “You’ll get so many questions about the bus rides and everything…It’s not that much of a grind, you know, compared to what a lot of people around the world are having to deal with.”

g[email protected] Read George Diaz‘s blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego