Marcos Molina, who missed the entire 2016 regular season after Tommy John surgery, made his first appearance of the season by tossing two innings for the Scottsdale Scorpions in their 5-2 loss on Thursday. The 21-year-old was given the starting nod and allowed one run on four hits while striking out two.
Molina allowed the first two batters he faced to reach base, but he settled in from there, coaxing a double play ball and a strikeout to limit the damage in the first inning. Molina stranded two more runners in the second inning. His fastball returned to its usual velocity, topping out at 93 mph.
Here’s a video of Molina from yesterday. As you can see he’s made some slight changes to his mechanics but still needs some work.
#Mets Marcos Molina #AFL16 pic.twitter.com/2nmdnTXCeT
— William Boor (@wboor) October 13, 2016
Tim Tebow started as Scottsdale’s designated hitter and went 0-3, bumping his line to 0-9 through three games. He also drew a walk in the fifth inning and came around to score on a single by Angels prospect Michael Hermosillo. He struck out twice and has yet to hit a ball out of the infield.
Gavin Cecchini went 0-3 with a walk, and Matt Oberste was 0-4 with a strikeout. Oberste was playing left field for the first time in his pro career. Mets prospects are hitting .148 (4-27) through three AFL games with Cecchini and Champ Stuart having two hits apiece.
The Scorpions will face the Glendale Desert Dogs Friday night at 9:35 ET
