Despite earning a second opportunity to participate in Major League Baseball’s summer prospect showcase, Cardinals pitching prospect Tink Hence will take a cautious approach as he looks towards the second half of the minor league season.
The Cardinals’ top-ranked pitching prospect and their top prospect who has not yet reached majors will forgo participating in Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field after lingering injuries cut short his first two starts of July. Hence’s Futures Game selection was his second in as many years. Hence was one of two Cardinals prospects selected to this year’s showcase alongside breakout left-hander Quinn Mathews.
“I always feel blessed to have the opportunity to even play this game, so to get (a second Futures Game selection), it’s just always a blessing,†the 21-year-old Hence said in a recent phone interview. “But actually, I had a talk with the front office, and I won’t be going to the Futures Game. But I still just feel blessed for them even nominating me for that.â€
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Hence exited his June 5 start for Class AA Springfield after completing two innings on 35 pitches as a precaution because of cramping, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch the day after Hence’s early exit.
The right-hander didn’t pitch again until June 23 and had that start end abruptly. After he completed one inning on 30 pitches, Hence returned to face the first batter in the second inning but threw two pitches and exited before retiring the final batter he faced.
“The last incident was just ... I don’t know if it was the heat,†Hence said. “After I came out of that first inning, I came out feeling pretty good. I sat down and had a decent long inning and then when I went back out there, I just didn’t feel all the way there. Coming out from what I just had previously and coming out and kind of feeling like it could head in that direction, I wanted to get on top of it because it was just a weird feeling. I just feel like if I would have stayed out there, I was kind of risking something.â€
The June 23 start against Corpus Christi was Hence’s most recent start entering Friday. Hence said earlier this week his back has “been feeling way better†and noted fatigue factored in the second early exit.
“He’s been to that game before. He was totally on board,†said Cardinals farm director Gary LaRocque, who Hence spoke with about the Futures Game decision. “And it’s interesting, it happens for a lot of pitchers, where we get into late June, July, and we do monitor workloads. … We do have to watch it. We monitor it and we felt that was the best thing right now.â€
In the buildup to earning his second Futures Game selection, Hence went 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA across 12 starts in Class AA. He’s struck out 73 batters in 54 2/3 innings while holding opponents to a .221 batting average and maintaining a 1.13 WHIP.
Hence notched the first three quality starts of his professional career over his first 12 starts. The 21-year-old’s first 12 starts include an April 30 outing during which he completed a career-high seven innings and notched 10 strikeouts and a May 24 outing during which he threw six scoreless innings and set a career-high in strikeouts with 13.
“He’s grown and he’s matured as a pitcher definitely,†fourth-year Springfield manager Jose Leger said of Hence during a recent phone interview. “He came in this year knowing that there was a good chance that he would start here. … He was here last year towards the end. Got to experience a little bit of a playoff atmosphere and now going into the season being our ace, I think he took on the role and he was ready for it.â€
After posting a 5.47 ERA in 12 Double-A starts in 2023, Hence began his second season in Springfield by posting a 2.10 ERA and striking out 31 batters in his first five starts. Hence followed his strong first month by posting a 4.15 ERA in five starts in May and has maintained a 7.14% walk rate this season after walking 9.2% of the Class AA batters he faced in 2023.
The 21-year-old has utilized a “new slider†that is more of a gyro slider and credits consistent timing in his mechanics as part of what’s allowed him to maintain better command. The changes have helped him lower his home runs allowed per nine innings at the Double-A level from 1.33 a year ago to 0.66 this year. Opposing hitters are slugging .324 against Hence after he allowed a .472 slugging percentage in 2023.
“I was able to get my fastball back at a pretty good shape and I’m commanding that better,†Hence said. “I feel like that kind of set me up pretty good to where now I’m able to put a little more trust into my offspeed and in going out there and just being different. Being able to throw all of my pitches and just building that confidence. I feel like the fastball was the first step of getting that back on track and everything else is just falling together.â€
With his decision to skip the Futures Game and not travel to Arlington for Major League Baseball’s All-Star weekend festivities, Hence said he may use the minor league baseball break to either visit family in his home state of Arkansas or stay in Springfield as he looks to “stay on top†of his health as he heads into the second half.
“Even if I feel good and I feel like I can go out there and go compete for one inning, it’s just thinking about we have a whole season ahead,†Hence said. “Just thinking about putting my health as the main focus ahead of going and having a little fun or getting another experience. And I feel like it’s just a part of the plan. I just got to trust it.â€